The mobile industry is incredibly fast and cut-throat. Microsoft learned that too slowly in my opinion, and the supposed launch of BBM for Android / iPhone yesterday showed yet again just how quickly things change.
Earlier we heard that the BBM app was available. It turned out to be a hoax, but before we found out I had a look around and tried to download it.
As I usually do, my mind jumped forward a little, “Oh, at last, BBM for Android, I can add my BlackBerry contacts in and chat with them!”
Then it hit me. I hardly have any. Those BlackBerry friends I do have just use WhatsApp, Facebook or their endless bundled texts to contact me. BBM, at least for me, isn’t important any more.
It’s almost like my DVD player. I’m looking at it right now. I have DVD’s. I have a DVD player, but I hardly ever use it any more. I don’t exactly know when it happened, but I started streaming films and now the only DVD’s we ever play are those kids films.
I know people with BlackBerry handsets. The BlackBerry handsets still find their way into the pockets of business people and a lot of “normal” consumers have picked them up on cheap contracts. However, as I’ve mentioned a few times now, most owners have looked on at Android and particularly iPhone handsets in envy. In years past I’ve personally recommended BlackBerry handsets for SME’s, however there was an increasing amount of directors and managers asking to make their Exchange email work on their iPads and iPhones. If they can, people are moving away from BlackBerry. BlackBerry is dying.
Releasing BBM for Android and iPhone now? Tomorrow? The next day? It’s simply too little, too late.
Couldn’t agree more. If they released it 3 years ago they would have survived… Bad mgmt. Same problem with Nokia, too slow tobreact to global market changes
Yeah absolutely agreed. They had the chance to make it an almost ubiquitous messaging app around 3 years ago, but people have found other ways to achieve the same thing, and often better.
There are over 600 people in my company with Blackberrys, and no-one uses BBM.
I even don’t know anyone outside work with a Blackberry now (if we ignore Jamie’s Dev device 😉
It’s beyond irrelevant now, as are Blackberry.