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July 25, 2012

BlackBerry PlayBook - the 4G/LTE Edition as the World Turns

Research in Motion’s (RIM) many missteps – which now extend seamlessly over a period of at least three years – have become infamous and legendary. The most recent of these missteps centered on the company’s recent announcement on June 28, 2012 that the delivery of both the new BlackBerry 10 mobile operating system and whatever new devices it intends to deliver around it, will be pushed into 2013. For many of us this still seems to be the proverbial final nail in the coffin. And yet the company gamely keeps plugging away.

On Monday July 23, 2012, we learned through a regulatory filing that the company’s largest shareholder, well known value investor Prem Watsa, through his Canadian investment firm Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.,  now owns just under 10 percent of the company's shares after buying a substantial block of stock earlier this month. The latest round of buying was executed as the stock continues to languish – currently somewhere around $6.50 a share (does anyone remember when RIM was trading at $149?). Does Watsa, who has been a RIM board member since January 2012, know something the rest of us don’t?

If he does, we are pretty sure it isn’t the latest RIM device news to make the rounds. MobileSyrup.com has reported that the launch of RIM’s 4G/LTE PlayBook is imminent – and should launch on July 31, with a price tag of $550. While we’ve certainly known directly from RIM that the launch of this device would be taking place sometime in the summer, we did not know or would ever believe that RIM would price it so…aggressively. It appears to have escaped RIM’s attention that for that dollar range one can purchase a retina quality, 4G/LTE 10 inch iPad and all the cachet that comes with doing so.

Is There Method to RIM’s Madness?

As much as we – as consumers – may malign RIM’s device and operating system strategies, from an enterprise perspective it is possible that RIM may be able to sell a fairly large number of these to businesses with IT departments that crave the security PlayBooks bring to the enterprise game by virtue of BES. Adding 4G/LTE (we have absolutely no idea why it should have taken so long to deliver this, but let’s hypothetically attribute it to the internal fiefdom fights prevalent inside of RIM before Thorsten Heins took over that have caused many of RIM’s problems over the last several years) makes the PlayBook a much more interesting and useful enterprise tool, especially where there are still significant blocks of BlackBerry users to be found.

RIM will likely craft substantial volume discounts for these businesses – but in order to craft substantial volume discounts it had to start the bidding at a high enough price point to make a difference. More than likely the price of the new PlayBook will settle in at $280 - $300, which many enterprises will not balk at paying. Tied to BES and RIM’s Mobile Fusion mobile device management capabilities, there are still plenty of corporate IT groups that value RIM’s inherent security to sell to.

It is always possible as well that RIM may strike deals with key operators to sell these at consumer friendly prices ($149 or less). But Amazon and Google already own this market segment, and Google hasn’t even started serious selling yet. No, it won’t happen for RIM on the consumer side.

Will the strategy drive enough sales and revenue in the enterprise to make a difference? We have always rooted for RIM to remain a strong enterprise player – the corporate world needs a strong and successful third party vendor to keep Microsoft – and of course now Apple – in check. We want RIM to succeed.

But let’s face reality – RIM is now more or less a Kia or Hyundai to Apple’s Ferrari. Meanwhile Microsoft’s Windows 8 and new Surface Tablets firmly deliver within the Porsche 911 class. So even enterprise competition will be brutal for RIM – the truth of the matter is that Apple delivers Ferraris at Hyundai prices, and Microsoft and its hardware partners will do the same.

The need to postpone delivery of BlackBerry 10 and new devices to 2013 and to launch yet again what is now an “old” tablet leaves RIM running in place. But the world keeps turning…will RIM ever catch up?

And what does Watsa know – or at least believe? That is speculation for another day.



Want to learn more about today’s powerful mobile Internet ecosystem? Then be sure to attend the Mobility Tech Conference & Expo, collocated with ITEXPO West 2012 taking place Oct. 2-5 2012, in Austin, TX. Co-sponsored by TMC Partner Crossfire Media the Mobility Tech Conference & Expo provides unmatched networking opportunities and a robust conference program representing the mobile ecosystem. The conference not only brings together the best and brightest in the wireless industry, it actually spans the communications and technology industry. For more information on registering for the Mobility Tech Conference & Expo click here.

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Tony Rizzo has spent over 25 years in high tech publishing and joins MobilityTechzone after a stint as Editor in Chief of Mobile Enterprise Magazine, which followed a two year stretch on the mobile vendor side of the world. Tony also spent five years as the Director of Mobile Research for 451 Research. Before his jump into mobility Tony spent a year as a publishing consultant for CMP Media, and served as the Editor in Chief of Internet World, NetGuide and Network Computing. He was the founding Technical Editor of Microsoft Systems Journal.

Edited by Brooke Neuman


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