Months ago I traded out my Blackberry Bold for an iPhone 5 like millions of other smartphone users globally. Beyond the phone itself, I’ve been thinking about the vastly different paths each Brand has taken over the past few years. In our space this is more a story about failed brands versus disruptive technology.
I had kept my old BB when I left my company opting to wait for the release of the newest iPhone versus an immediate trade-out. I will not discuss how far, far superior the iPhone is for every function.
While Apple stock has experienced a very sharp decline since its $705 closing peak last September, the debate over its future is far different from whether it will survive as a company. While Apple came back from the near dead, will Blackberry? I think not. At best, it is a marginalized company and damaged Brand.
This view is driven by the fact that technology changes so rapidly and profoundly today versus the 1980s; competitive choices abound; and trends are immediately communicated and societally more critical. Importantly, the equities market is far less forgiving today. BB’s largest corporate customers have not missed this dire state as numerous better, popular choices are driving large companies to accelerate their transition to iPhone or Android devices.
Back in grad school, one of the books in our second-year strategy course was about failed brands, none of which I can now recall. Will Blackberry (BBRY) – which fortunately and perhaps too late changed its name from Research in Motion (RIMM)– be included in a future version? Likely again in my view. Goliath stumbled.
But that is not a universal opinion by any means. Last year a Harvard Business Review blog post titled “The Blackberry Can Be Saved” was published with five recommendations. Certainly Blackberry has created lots of opinions and solutions about what they need to do to change, recapture market share and achieve an improved perception and position. In a dueling HBR blog another writer suggested Blackberry’s innovation problem was one of leadership. I tend to accept the latter.
Net, the jury is still out but deliberating. I know which direction I will go.