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docdivakar
You have a point Sylvie! I have a BlackBerry-like phone which I use for emails ...
WW Thinker
RIM didn't invent anything! Microsoft pretty much left the door open for RIM to ...
Marvell co-founder: RIM will survive, thrive
Sylvie Barak
12/6/2012 8:45 PM EST
SAN FRANCISCO -- Marvell Technology's Weili Dai said she still believes in Research in Motion and its Blackberry smartphone -- so much so that she asserted that RIM will survive and thrive.
Dai, who herself uses a customized BlackBerry device, rallied behind her “dear RIM” and the engineering prowess that built the firm.
“Who invented the smartphone?” asked Dai, Mike Lazaridis, she replied, the executive behind the shift from cell phones to smartphones when he invented the first two-way messaging pager back in 1996. The RIM 950 Wireless Handheld, later known as the BlackBerry, debuted in 1998, and is seen as the start of the “smart connected” ecosystem, Dai said.
“Now we have smart devices in all form factors,” added Dai.
Despite RIM’s recent troubles, Dai said it would be foolish to disregard how deep RIM’s expertise runs in terms of enterprise software security. “It has required years of investment and proven technology,” she said, noting that it was not simply a factor of writing “a few thousand lines of code.”
Dai maintained that RIM remains the “real deal” when it comes to business applications. “RIM is in recovery,” said Dai, claiming she was hopeful that BlackBerry 10 would mark a turning point for the struggling smartphone company. Dai said the new operating system would finally address consumer concerns over ease of use, saying it was a “first step” toward more greater user friendliness.
“RIM will continue to enhance and improve,” she said, basing her faith on the “very solid” and “proven” enterprise security that has now been around for almost two decades.
“You just can’t underestimate that,” Dai said.
Dai comments come in response to lackluster reviews of Marvell's financial performance in recent months. Analysts questioned Marvell's outlook given its heavy reliance on design wins in struggling RIM smartphones.
On Thursday (Dec. 6), RIM introduced its BB10 business Ready Program, a Webcast series designed to prepare business clients for the launch of its next-generation operating system due out on Jan. 30.
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mll1013
12/7/2012 4:07 PM EST
Yes, RIM did invent the smartphone, but that does not ensure their viability. An example is the Palm Pilot. While they invented the PDA, where is Palm OS today? RIM, like Palm, did not adapt quickly enough to changing innovations, and as a result, unlike Dai, I believe that in the near future we'll all be saying...
"RIP, RIM!"
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mranderson
12/8/2012 1:06 PM EST
It is too early to tell if RIM will make a comeback since the BB10 is not yet on the market. Dai is putting the cart before the horse yet again. Marvell has underperformed in the cell phone business in recent years.
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rrobie68
12/10/2012 11:30 AM EST
no, the fact that it STILL "too early" means BB is already WAY too late to the game and therefore HAS LOST. The first round is over, they have forfeited and now watch from the stands while the big players play round 3
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Scott4usa
12/8/2012 7:28 PM EST
Is Wei brown nosing to get Marvell into more Rimm products after the switch to Qualcom? She may go to war for Rimm but will Rimm go to war for Marvell?
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SylvieBarak
12/10/2012 2:19 PM EST
That, Scott, is an excellent question... and I suspect Marvell may not like the answer...
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GREAT-Terry
12/10/2012 9:21 AM EST
I think RIM is just limited to enterprise use and people just use it for emails. However, with how bad is other smartphones performing? I don't see any comparison between different push mail services from other OS/smartphones. If there is no obvious advantage on RIM's push mails, why can it still survive in the future? I really doubt if we will see this brand in 2 years.
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Daniel Payne
12/10/2012 11:22 AM EST
When RIM can offer me an Android-powered phone with 5.3" display for just $29.95, then I believe that they are viable. Until then, thank you AT&T for selling me a Samsung Galaxy Note for just $29.95 on Black Friday.
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rrobie68
12/10/2012 11:28 AM EST
lol, you overpaid
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SylvieBarak
12/10/2012 2:20 PM EST
I think there is place in the market for a good enterprise phone with a keyboard, but it needs to be price competitive, as you say, and somewhat relevant... which BlackBerry, today, is not.
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docdivakar
12/12/2012 11:46 AM EST
You have a point Sylvie! I have a BlackBerry-like phone which I use for emails on the go. I dread typing emails on touch-screen smartphone so there is a market for business users.
BlackBerry also did not play its cards right with some of the controversies on sharing access to its mail servers in situations of crime, terrorism, etc -in India it was an unnecessary negative publicity for RIM. I hope they have matured from that lesson.
I do think RIM will survive, perhaps more in Asian markets than in western ones.
MP Divakar
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rrobie68
12/10/2012 11:27 AM EST
"Who invented the smartphone" Not Blackberry... what a myth. They're the obtuse guys who designed the smartphone WRONG and then got enough exclusive email contracts to insinuate themselves
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iniewski
12/10/2012 12:23 PM EST
The fact that you invent something doesn't guarantee that you will be around when other pass you by...yes, RIM has strong security technology so it will not disappear...but it will not be a market leader again either
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WW Thinker
12/10/2012 10:52 PM EST
RIM didn't invent anything! Microsoft pretty much left the door open for RIM to go in and ate the lunch since many years ago. As of today, I still cannot understand why enterprises were willing to pay additional license fees per handset and for an additional BB Server given that most enterprises already had the Exchange Server installed. I was told that the end-to-end security was the critical deciding factor. If so, this is probably too over-rated.
RIM is pretty much gone. In enterprises, the tide has turned to iOS and perhaps the up & coming Win8 eco-system. At the end of the day, no market force can ever be stronger than bad management! WeiLi Dai is another over-rated manager. As an avid consumer, I will simply ignore her statement because it was spoken with the interest of Marvell in mind, but not those of the consumers. As a technologist, I will just give her statement a laugh because the undo of RIM was long started!
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