Apple vs RIM: the media obsession continues
The BlackBerry and iPhone makers are squaring off and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
But there is far too much being made of the competition between Apple and RIM.
If someone dropped onto Earth from another planet and read the latest edition of BusinessWeek, the only conclusion they’d be able to draw is that there are two smartphones (a.k.a. converged mobile devices) available today.
BusinessWeek is the worst offender - the well-respected business magazine has published three stories in as many months on the “battle” between the companies.
It’s easy to see why pundits or reporters want to turn the smartphone market into a RIM and Apple fight - both companies are growing by leaps and bounds and offer cool devices. Apple will eventually offer BlackBerry-like corporate e-mail functionality on its iPhone. The BlackBerry may even have a decent music player in it one day.
Fact of the matter is the companies already compete albeit for the prosumer, which is a smaller but fast-growing slice of the market. Apple is a relative newbie (albeit a fast-growing one) to the smartphone game while RIM has extended its reach into the consumer segment.
But Apple and RIM are also up against cell phone behemoths such as Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, which makes the BlackBerry vs. iPhone argument kind of a silly one. Nokia and Samsung are the top mobile phone vendors worldwide BTW. There are a number of other mobile phones that offer wireless e-mail functionality (courtesy of RIM’s BlackBerry Connect program) and music-playing capabilities.
(In a sense, the companies also compete against the service providers, at least in Canada, which maintain stubbornly high data prices that (believe it or not) dampens demand for BlackBerrys but that’s a separate post.)
Consumers want one device to manage all types of information be it music or messages. Ideally, those devices will give people access to information “in the cloud” as well, if not from the desktop. RIM and Apple are trying to become the provider of that pre-eminent provider of such a device. So are others. It’s not that big a deal.
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Well, I don’t think it’s media over-hyping the situation with the iPhone (and comparing it to the other market leader in that market segment). The iPhone is a revolutionary hardware and software telecommunictions product *for the masses* (and “for the masses” is what really distinguishes the iPhone, too). And it *is* certainly revolutionary. The Blackberry is going into the “backwater” of the telecommunications field and will still continue in a limited market segment.
The Apple iPhone will outstrip all other competitors and will change the telecommunications market for the consumer forever. Thank you Apple for providing something that we all can really be happy using and not grousing about how things “could be better” and simply living with the second- and third-rate products that the other manufacturers are putting out. Those other manufacturers don’t have a clue. And the telecommunications giants “don’t want to have a clue” (because they want to charge for everything and make nothing worthwhile).
Hi,
Those are bold statements.
RIM has stayed ahead of the development curve and continues to surpass pretty much everyone’s expectations. Isn’t it a bit early to write off the BlackBerry?
I’m just wondering.
I like the iPhone for its mobile browsing capabilities, touch screen and of course the music player.
It has many shortcomings too (e.g. no expansion slot, Bluetooth, and it’s EXPENSIVE).