The Fall of BlackBerry - How an Iconic Brand went from Boom to Bust

The demise of the BlackBerry® brand is worth studying for any company and there are many lessons to be learned. As the company is struggling to remain relevant in the market, we thought it would be a good time to look into some of the mishaps and misfortunes that have led the company not only to the edge of the cliff, but as many investors already see over the edge and in free fall. Here are 4 lessons that we see as being a big part of their demise. 

1. Don't be too confident:

Not too many years ago, BlackBerry was synonymous with Smartphones. Corporations around the world relied on its secure network for their mobile email systems and consumers were addicted to their “Crackberries”. Then suddenly Apple® stepped into the game with the introduction of the iPhone®. Suddenly there was the idea of an all touch screen that can adapt to anything that is on the display. It seems so easy now to say that it was a natural evolution of the Smartphone user interface just as the GUI replaced old command terminals but in 2007 everyone in the industry including BlackBerry and famously Microsoft® laughed at the idea. Confidence breeds arrogance and it was easy to call Apple the new kid on the block with not idea about the telecommunication world and what the needs of the Smartphone users are. However just as Sony® did before with the rise of the iPod®, underestimating the design and engineering prowess of Apple can be very costly.

2. Software is the true success story here, not the Hardware

As Apple's iPhone began to penetrate the market at an alarming rate executives at BlackBerry and other companies began to look at the iPhone as a piece of Hardware that they could potentially emulate. BlackBerry's idea was to slap a touch screen on top of their aging Operating System. However the true success of the iPhone comes from the software. When Apple opened the App store and drew in thousands of developers the Hardware became a platform with rapidly accelerating capabilities. BlackBerry mostly understood the mobile market as a Hardware industry and certainly lacked the capabilities and engineering talent to take on a software behemoth like Apple. However there was more bad news brewing for BlackBerry as another Silicon Valley company was about to strike. Google® was a pure Software company and they knew quickly that only they and perhaps Microsoft could take on a company like Apple. Google however lacked the Hardware manufacturing capability, so they decided to release Android™ as free open source software to any Smartphone maker that wanted to support it. This could have been a golden opportunity for BlackBerry to combine their hardware expertise with the software capabilities of Google to pose a real challenge to Apple. However they decided to stick to their own OS and paved the way for Samsung® to take Google’s offer.

3. Adapt quickly or Die

Under attack from Apple and now Android-driven Samsung devices of every shape and size BlackBerry finally began to understand that Hardware is not enough to compete anymore. Lacking internal talent it decided to acquire QNX Software Systems to develop a new Operating System capable of competing with Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. However developing a sophisticated operating systems takes a long time even for an experienced software company, so more time was wasted to develop a new BlackBerry operating System not to mention, that the company still lacked a viable App Eco system which would render the new OS pretty useless to the average consumer. To make matters worse with the Rise of the iPad® the company decided to divert much its engineering efforts towards building a BlackBerry branded tablet...the ill-fated Playbook®.

4. Brand is more than a logo

A brand is the consumer’s perception of a company and its products. When Apple became the cool kid, and BlackBerry began to look like a technology fossil unable to innovate and excite, the brand’s demise began. By shifting its focus away from its traditional corporate customers to the mass consumer market, the company further alienated its hardcore established user base. A lack of smart engagement with consumers and outdated marketing approach further diminished the brand versus its competitors from Apple, Google and even offerings by Microsoft. 

In conclusion BlackBerry’s fall is a prime example of how the mighty can fall. Poor decisions at every step of the way combined with self-serving confidence and self-delusion in an intensely competitive market have driven the company to the brink of bankruptcy. While the story of BlackBerry is still being written, it is safe to say that it almost takes a miracle at this point to turn things around. However, if Apple’s history is a lesson with a bit of vision and hard work things can still be turned around even in the last hour. We wish the just nominated new CEO of the company the best of luck in turning this iconic yet fading brand around. 

-Mehrdad Haghighi