RIM, the Canadian company that makes the Blackberry phone, is in trouble. They are in real big trouble. Struggling to keep up with the pace of phones being released on the Android platform, Blackberries have fallen horribly behind in the spec war that dominates smartphone buying decisions. Their market share has plummeted, and sales have been down.
RIM is now facing a class action lawsuit from shareholders claiming that the cell phone manufacturer underreported losses in the quarterly report. The fact that co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie seem to be sticking their fingers in their ears, closing their eyes, and shouting at the top of their lungs until everything goes away has to be disconcerting for anyone significantly invested in the company.
Things are only getting worse too. The only thing really keeping Blackberry phones relevant is their stranglehold on business customers. But Apple and Google aren’t charitable organizations, and they are gunning for that segment as well.
A company called Good Technology has developed an app that allows people to access secure corporate servers with an iPhone or Android device. Deutsche Bank has rolled out a test program for its employees to use the service.
JP Morgan Chase has already added the iPhone to the list of acceptable devices at work. It seems to be only a matter of time before Android phones get added to the list.
Blackberry has pointed towards emerging markets like India and South America as places where they can stem the bleeding. However, a nearly yearlong feud with the Indian government over Blackberries encryption services could very likely derail those plans before the train ever leaves the station.
