PCWorld Forums: Rim Boss Says Company Isn't In 'death Spiral' - PCWorld Forums

Post your comments for RIM Boss Says Company Isn't in 'Death Spiral' here

The next RIM CEO is going to be Ali Hassan al-Majid ("Chemical Ali")

This new CEO has no choice but to rally his troops. If he is to have any chance at righting this corporation he has to have them believe that they are merely the victims of a lot of bad press, ill-timed product launches and bad timing. All of which could be temporary. Even if the troops know this to be false, I think they need to hear this anyway. What choice do they have, honestly?

I'd rather go down fighting myself then just lay down and die.

I hope RIM can thrive again, more competition the better, but it's kind of interesting that a company who couldn't see the shift in their market coming over the last five years thinks that it can make a OS for the next ten.

HankRearden, on 05 July 2012 - 08:37 AM, said:

Well put

LordInsidious, on 05 July 2012 - 08:54 AM, said:

I couldn't agree more. Lack of vision in the past speaks volumes about your future. When I see Android activations now a PR of 1mm per day, I just feel like the war was fought, won, and even the dead bodies have been cleared away.

Time has passed.

And then RIMM shows up to the battle field and declares they are getting their troops ready for the battle. From my point of view I'm thinking, wait, what battle? The one you completely missed? The one that was already fought, won and decided? Guys, sorry but that war ended two years ago. You missed it.

This post has been edited by HankRearden: 05 July 2012 - 09:03 AM

The next RIM CEO is going to be Ali Hassan al-Majid ("Chemical Ali")

I guess Microsoft is dumb for entering the market now too.

jmeth111o2dk, on 07 July 2012 - 09:19 AM, said:

I was thinking yes, Microsoft is dumb to enter right now. And then I thought better of it. Thought, but they have the enter this market. It is simply too crucial for them not to. And then I thought back to my original comment about Android hitting 1mm activations per day. What I said about the war having been fought and already ended. And I asked myself if I truly believe that then why should Microsoft enter this market despite its huge barrier of entry.

I think the answer is that Microsoft has a couple potential aces up its sleeve that RIMM doesn't have. Microsoft owns Active Sync. It owns what can be argued as the best selling GroupWare product on the planet, which is Exchange Server and Office. Microsoft's Windows OS is used on 91% or more of the computers sold today. There is a lot of potential in thus numbers for Microsoft to leverage existing technologies into a phone platform that can still win despite being so far behind, if used wisely.

I think integration is the key. Leverage what you have. If I were Microsoft, I'd think long and hard about how to leverage the assets I have in my control. One way that they are leveraging is to make Windows 8 Metro a common interface with Windows Mobile. That might prove to be a power thing in the future. We'll have to wait and see.

HankRearden, on 07 July 2012 - 09:31 AM, said:

I suspect that MS has "planned their work and are working their plan", much like Apple. The winds of change blow hard and fast in the Google/Android community and fragmentation is still a huge problem. If MS leverages their huge lead in the enterprise and the perception of consumers that MS, like IBM before, is the defacto standard, MS will emerge as a leader, if not the leader in the mobile space.

nonseq, on 07 July 2012 - 09:44 AM, said:

I think too much attention is given to fragmentation. As someone how owns a good few Android products both past and present, it is rare that an app doesn't work on one of the devices. Large 10.1" screen will stretch an app across its wide display, which is not great but the app does run. It's simply not optimized for the tablet. The phones, and tablets up to 7 inches all play quite well in the eco system.

If Google would simply make it easier to find tablet optimized apps in the appstore that would go a long way.

No matter what Microsoft does, they have a huge wall to climb. At 1mm activations per day, Android alone is closing in on 400,000,000 activations a year. They are becoming the Microsoft of the Phone. I think Microsoft, if they play this ever so carefully, maybe could crack it. It won't be easy and it may be too late. I wouldn't just give up though. If I were Microsoft I'd go for it. They have the money. They have talented people working for them. They have successful products that they can leverage. In essence Microsoft has what RIMM lacks, which is a fighting chance at this. RIMM, I'd say guys, just go on home now. It's over.