The disgruntled maker of Blackberry phone, Research in Motion, tried to reintroduce its tablet the Playbook, after it failed to get consumer’s attention the first time and has once again failed to impress. Although RIM did add a native email, built in calendar, contacts application and its upgraded processor, the lack of functionality with its BBM will certainly turn away customers.
Research in Motion can not fight the popular, cheaper tablets such as the Nook and Kindle. These two tablets dominate the discount tablet market, while Apple obviously controls the high-end tablet market with the iPad. How is the Playbook supposed to survive and coin money for RIM when it failed in the first release of its Playbook and when they change it the tablet was still flawed? The market is in firm control of the Nook, Kindle and iPad.
The Playbook lacked features in its first version and lacked functionality in its BBM. You would think that once you try to improve your product and reintroduce it that you would have made some changes. Not Research in Motion, the BBM is still dysfunctional and lacks features. How to expect to make a comeback in your product when you didn’t even correct some of the problems in your first model?
Just to offer some perspective, Apple sold 15.4 million iPads in a single quarter. Research in Motion sold 850,000 Playbooks the entire year, this includes heavy discounts and incentives. That is pretty embarrassing. I understand that Apple’s iPad is a top notch product but how can you not compare the two tablets and companies? Apple has single-handedly beaten RIM over the head repeatedly over the years. The Blackberry owned the market for many years then the iPhone came along and basically put the Blackberry out of the market. Apple turns to tablets and yet again forces RIM out of the market. Maybe RIM should follow the old saying “if you can’t beat them, join them”. I’m not suggesting RIM and Apple should merge, rather RIM should stop trying to fight Apple with these absurd products and try to mimic them a little more.
They don’t even have to be big similarities. Let’s just start with basics like maybe an app store that isn’t more dismal than your actual product. Its little changes like that, which can make a difference and maybe help your lack of sales.
RIM is way out of touch with consumers and they continue to make horrible decisions that are costing them dearly. I wouldn’t touch RIM’ stock if my life depended on it. The company has so many flaws that there is no way you can say the stock is a value play. You have to have value to be value stock and if management doesn’t start getting their act together it’s only going to get worse for the company.
