Has The BlackBerry Phone Had Its Day?

by Mark Benson

Over the last few months we have seen unparalleled criticism of the BlackBerry smartphone with manufacturers RIM having been forced to reshuffle their management and issue a number of grovelling apologies to BlackBerry users. So has the BlackBerry phone had its day?

Is the BlackBerry phone dead?

Those who are predicting the death of the BlackBerry smartphone may well need to think again because this is a mobile phone which is still very popular in the business arena. While there is no doubt that damage has been done to the company's reputation in the short to medium term, there is also no doubt that the vast majority of the company's revenue comes from the business end of the market. So while consumers have been criticising the BlackBerry on various forums and websites it is still very much an integral part of everyday business life for many business users.

Is the iPhone better than the BlackBerry?

Opinion is definitely divided as to whether the iPhone is better than the BlackBerry or whether the BlackBerry is better than the iPhone. Rightly or wrongly the impression is that the iPhone is very much targeted at the consumer market while the BlackBerry is very much targeted at the business market. If you ask each company whether this is correct they would likely disagree but the style and content of their marketing literature would seem to indicate otherwise.

While there is no doubt that the iPhone is the most popular marketwide phone we have ever seen there is also no doubt that it is still struggling to take on the BlackBerry in the business arena. Whether the ongoing number of applications being added to the iPhone library will change this in the short, medium and longer term remains to be seen but the vast majority of business users are still keen to use a BlackBerry for their business usage than an iPhone at present.

Why did the BlackBerry network recently collapse?

While there is no doubt that each and every mobile phone company and mobile network company around the world will experience "outages" on a regular basis, the recent BlackBerry "outage" had a devastating effect on the company's public image. It seems that an issue with one of the exchanges in London brought down the entire worldwide network and intermittent services were only available for a few weeks.

It is very surprising that one particular issue could bring down the whole network and there is also no doubt that the company did not help the situation by promising a return to normal service only to disappoint on a number of occasions. Whether there has been a lasting impression on the image of the BlackBerry remains to be seen although if a similar outage were to happen in the not too distant future we may see more people considering other options.

Do not write off the BlackBerry

While there is no doubt that RIM, the manufacturers of the BlackBerry smartphone, are on the back foot, there is also no doubt that the company will do whatever it takes to regain its market share and its public image. The company has already undertaken a serious management reshuffle and while this again has created negative headlines in the recent press it is something which will hopefully assist the company in its recovery programme in the short to medium term.

All you need to do if you are unsure about the viability of a BlackBerry smart phones is to ask the vast majority of business users how they feel. The vast majority will likely still remain positive about the phone and the network despite recent issues.

Mark Benson is the author of a number of articles on the ListOf website covering various subjects such as a List Of BlackBerry Models.

Article submitted Friday, January 27, 2012 & read 1 times.

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