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How BlackBerry Staged a Comeback by Winning Over Car Companies | The Walrus (thewalrus.ca)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/canada@lemmy.ca
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[–] 6 points 2 months ago (1 child)

The biggest miss-step RIM made was to assume the consumer would put rock solid security ahead of consumer functionality. They did not move in the direction of smart phone apps because they introduced too many security vulnerabilities. However it turned out that the consumer will accept down time and system crashes if there are enough toys. Automobiles don't have the same tolerance.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    bb died because its product got cheap, then it got stale

    i worked for verizon wirless in bbs heyday until their collapse to the iphone

    apps were not the issue because they didn't have the hardware to support them

    palm went the same way before them

    suits just can’t help themselves cutting quality into the ground, refusing to invest in future tech

    apple is literally doing the same thing now, it’s just there is no real competitor in quality or innovation atm, only price and control and google just threw apple a huge bone chasing their own walled garden

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    BB died because they came too late to the App 'fad' and stubbornly refused to support independent app development until it was too late and they had already lost.

    Their Playbook used the QNX system. Too little too late.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    they never had the hardware to support the app

    even if they day 1 pivoted to supporting said apps bb had no way to make them feel good

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    As someone who worked there in product management we were late on both the hardware and support for apps along with our reluctance to adopt cameras when the iPhone first launched. We doubled down on being business friendly but it turns out businesses wanted the same features that gave Apple instant success in the consumer market. Those were crazy fun times - that’s what brought me to Ontario and kept me in Canada. A lot of smart underutilized people still living in Waterloo Region who were part of it.

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    • [–] 5 points 2 months ago* (2 children)

    lol no

    Following a years-long restructuring effort that included selling 32,000 patents for up to $900 million in 2023, the smartphone pioneer that was once left for dead is showing signs of growth

    with that kinda money it could have just sat in the stock market

    it made 53 million lololol

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  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    With that kind of patent portfolio they could have survived and prospered on licensing fees alone. A pure Friedman company - all income and almost no expenditure, almost pure profit margin. Can't get more Friedman than that.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    yep, for them to have made 900mil means it was likely worth so much more

    like selling a discogrophy

    something kinda fishy

    maybe china spooked them

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (2 children)

    What's rhe value proposition of sitting in the stock market?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Pure Friedman - all income, minimal expenditure - absolute highest profit margin. That was the direction a lot of big American companies took - close down and sell off manufacturing (minimize expenditures), make the profit on portfolios and licensing (maximize income).

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    That's not the direction RIM/BB has taken through it's history.

    I mean, it did try outsourcing manufacturing, but as a reactionary and emergency measure, rather than planned one.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago

    RIM/BB was a pure Canadian company. We do things differently up here. If RIM/BB had been sold, it would have been purchased for the patent portfolio, not the manufacturing capability. That is what pretty much happened to Northern Telecom/Nortel assets in the end liquidation.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 child)

    more than 53 mil from over 900 mil

    with enough money 10% is easily safely assured dividends, bonds etc

    with the current stupid market 30% would have been pretty easy 3year, my return’s been over 20% with rather conservative target retirement and some large cap

    hell 2026 was the first year of profit so two years were not so 53mil profit is like 2% rolling

    you can make that in a savings account and spread out that is fdic insured

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (2 children)

    Yes, but that doesn't provide any products or services to anybody.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago*

    don’t get me wrong i hate the stock market and its vibes and capitalism can eat a dick

    my issue was with this obvious hype piece claiming bb is doing well

    the market share sounds impressive but it had capitol falling out if its ears and until its numbers are consistent and better i’m sure as shit not investing money in them

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