Blackberry Torch 9800 and RIM - Its clobbering time

If I have freedom in my love

And in my soul am free

Angels alone that soar above

Enjoy such liberty

Lovelace, To Althea from Prison

Blackberry is in trouble. Or rather RIM (Research in Motion). Their market share is slowly taking a battering from the more advanced smart phones on the market with tough Gorilla Glass touch screens and processors capable of handling multimedia and augmentable with downloaded apps, by now a well known song sung by Apple since its launch in 2007 and now swelling to a chorus with its latest controversial baby, the Apple iPhone 4.0 and its line of Fanboys and would be assassins.

According to research strategy firm Strategy Analytics as stated in the article “Smartphone shipments jump 43 percent”, published July 22, 2010 12:34 PM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News - Wireless, Nokia is the Global Market Leader, accounting for 40% of the global smart phone market. Sixty million (60,000,000) smart phones have thus far being sold this Second Quarter alone. RIM is Second and third place respectively is for Apple, with Google Android nowhere on the scene.

The reality is rather stark. RIM is only number one in the United States of America, with Nokia still the global smart phone leader, shipping twenty four (24,000,000) million smart phones in the Second Quarter of 2010 as opposed to RIM eleven million, two hundred thousand (11,200,000) smart phones and Apple’s eight million four hundred thousand (8,400,000) smart phones.

RIM Global Market share dipped by some 0.5% from 19.3% in the Second Quarter of 2009 to some 18.8% in the Second Quarter of 2010 while Apple iPhone Global Market share gained by some 1.6% from 12.5% in the Second Quarter of 2009 to some 14.1% in the Second Quarter of 2010.

Albeit not statistically significant, the trend is a follow-on on a recorded dip in Global Market share for RIM and a gain in Global Market share for Apple when the First Quarter of 2009 and 2010 are compared, as based on statistical data from IDC, RIM Global Market share dipped by some 1.5% from 20.9% in the First Quarter of 2009 to some 19.4% in the First Quarter of 2010.

While Apple iPhone Global Market share gained by some 5.2% from 10.9% in the First Quarter of 2009 to some 16.1.1% in the First Quarter of 2010 as stated in the article “RIM BlackPad Expected to Compete with Apple's iPad”, published Friday July 30th 2010 by Mike Kent, newsfactor.com, Yahoo! News.

Facing these economic pressures, Blackberry has finally stepped into the 20^th Century with the spanking new Blackberry 9800 Torch, a capacitive touch screen slider with the traditional QWERTY keyboard and a SENSE UI Google Android-esque interface on a two (2) year contract on Telecom Provider AT&T Network for the low, low price of US$199 as stated in the article “RIM looks to make a splash with US$199 touchscreen Blackberry Torch”, published Tuesday August 3 2010 by Ben Patterson, Technology Writer, Yahoo! News and confirmed by the article “RIM unveils new Blackberry to counter iPhone”, published Tuesday August 3 2010 by Sinead Carew, Associated Press, Yahoo! News.

RIM hinted at its intentions of producing a Tablet PC to compete with the Apple iPad rumoured to be called the BlackPad as stated in the article “RIM BlackPad Expected to Compete with Apple's iPad”, published Friday July 30th 2010 by Mike Kent, newsfactor.com, Yahoo! News, which if the reports are to be believed, is a boon for Developers, as RIM Apps Store is threadbare, with only approximately six thousand seven hundred apps (6700) at last count.

Most people are skeptical if these new offerings will make a dent in a market now going nuts over the Apple iPhone 4.0, the HTC Droid Incredible and the Motorola Droid X, both Apple iPhone killers, evident from its growing popularity based on news of component shortage as stated in the article “The summer of the smart phone shortage”, published July 13, 2010 4:00 AM PDT by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News - Signal Strength and confirmed by the article “HTC Evo 4G, Incredible shortages make room for Droid X”, published Monday July 12 2010 by Jared Newman, Yahoo! News.

As for the Tablet market, the prediction that the Apple iPad would cannibalize the Netbook market as stated in the article “ Netbook Sales Sag as the iPad Arrives” published April 7, 2010, 12:27AM EST By Cliff Edwards, CNET News – COMPUTERS seem to be bearing fruit.

Apple jumped from being the number seven (7) when placed in the same lumpen proletariat category along with makers of portable computers inclusive of Netbooks and notebook computers to number three (3) in the world  based on the utterances of Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore, a Blogger for Fortune Magazine on the Apple 2.0 Blog as stated in the article “iPad pushes Apple into the top mobile ranks”, published August 2, 2010 9:20 PM PDT by Brooke Crothers, CNET News Nanotech - The Circuits Blog buoyed into this position by its three million, three hundred thousand (3,300,000) plus sales since the debut of the Apple iPad on the weekend of Saturday April 3^rd and Sunday April 4^th 2010 AD.

News of Hulu on the Apple iPad as stated in the article “Hulu launches US$10 video subscription service”, published Tuesday June 29 2010 by RYAN NAKASHIMA, AP Business Writer, Yahoo! News and the coming front facing camera for FaceTime Video Calling as hinted in the article “Report: Next iPad likely to include camera”, published August 3, 2010 10:47 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News – Apple.

John Public surmises, is possibly what is surging the sales of this device, leading Molly Wood, Executive Editor to declare that Comcast and DirectTV are effectively staring death in the face as per video CNET Buzz Report, aired Thursday July 1^st 2010 by Molly Wood, Executive Editor, CNET News.

Granted there is some concern about the potential ban of the RIM Blackberry phones use of Messenger and email in UAE (United Arab Emirates) as stated in the article “Two MidEast countries to ban Blackberry functions” , published August 1, 2010 11:05 AM PDT, by Steven Musil, CNET News – Wireless.

Ditto too for Saudi Arabia as of Friday August 6^th 2010 as stated in the article “Saudi Arabia orders Blackberry ban starting Friday”, published Tuesday August 3^rd 2010 by ADAM SCHRECK and ERIKA KINETZ, AP Business Writers, Yahoo! News.

Now in the EU (European Union) for the same reasons: the security encryption on these phones Messenger and email features is so high that it makes it impossible for foreign governments to listen in on the conversations of terrorists and drug barons, who may use these phones to organize their criminal activities unhindered and unmonitored, even when a warrant is served to have their mobile phones monitored.

Despite the negative news, this heightened level of concern over the phones security may be turned to the advantage of RIM, highlighting the level of security and its protection of its business client’s privacy especially in light of privacy concerns over Facebook and Google StreetView.

I guess it is not all gloom and doom for RIM, as this could be just be the wave that they can ride on and push the new Blackberry 6.0 on the improved Blackberry 9800 Torch and the soon to be launched RIM BlackPad………..albeit I would change the name of the Tablet, as the 70’s “black exploitation” films like Isaac Hayes Shaft (1971) are like so over.

RIM, enjoy you liberty as my grudge borne against you is fed fat, al la Shakespeare.