Steve Tobak has an interesting post on CBS Money Watch about RIM's situation and how leadership matters. RIM was dominating with its BlackBerry brand, but when Apple introduced the iPhone RIM was taken by surprise. Soon Google entered the fray with Android and RIM's once dominant position was starting to erode. Tobak claims that RIM's leadership made mostly wrong moves.
Is he right? Will RIM bounce back? The whole world is predicting RIM's demise, but let's hope they're wrong. RIM is still growing in emerging markets, and they have a solid fan base in the UK. Their problem is that Apple really has convinced people that they can do a whole lot more on their phone than send messages. Can RIM provide a device that matches the iPhone, yet still has the famous BlackBerry keyboard and security?
While this sort of thing happens all the time in the business world, rarely, if ever, has there been such an impressive example of one company's leadership doing so many things so terribly wrong, one right after another, causing the premature demise of a once-great brand. There are powerful lessons here for all of us.
Is he right? Will RIM bounce back? The whole world is predicting RIM's demise, but let's hope they're wrong. RIM is still growing in emerging markets, and they have a solid fan base in the UK. Their problem is that Apple really has convinced people that they can do a whole lot more on their phone than send messages. Can RIM provide a device that matches the iPhone, yet still has the famous BlackBerry keyboard and security?
