New BlackBerry coming. iPhone who?
Posted
May 12 2008, 01:25 PM
by
Kim Peterson
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Research in Motion announced its new BlackBerry today, which the company clearly developed with Apple's iPhone in mind. The BlackBerry Bold is gorgeous, and positions RIM for a smartphone war this summer against Apple's upcoming 3G iPhone.
RIM shares are up 7% on the news as investors applaud the first major BlackBerry release in more than a year. But Apple investors aren't too worried: shares rose 3% today on word that the HBO cable network might sell shows on iTunes.
Here's where the two companies stand heading into the summer. The BlackBerry still commands the smartphone market, having made extensive inroads into the enterprise and becoming the de facto business phone. It has a 40% market share. But the iPhone is a strong contender, hitting a 28% market share in Q4 despite a huge flaw: incompatibility with the Microsoft Exchange e-mail server (Apple is working on a fix).
Apple will likely upgrade the iPhone this summer with a 3G model that offers faster Internet connectivity. The BlackBerry Bold also runs on 3G. There are other similarities: Both phones will run on AT&T's network and could be in the same price range. The biggest difference is that the iPhone uses a touch-screen and the Bold does not.
The Bold has lots of bells and whistles: built-in GPS, a 2-megapixel camera with flash, 1 GB of flash memory and a color screen that's getting rave reviews. It plays movies and music, though probably not as seamlessly as the iPhone.
Here's where a smartphone war between these two gets interesting. Both companies already have loyal users. The battle will be for new smartphone users, and for those willing to switch sides. RIM has a comfortable stake in the corporate environment, but it needs to catch up to Apple in the "cool" department. RIM needs to rev up its marketing and position the Bold as sexy, hip and trendy. Choosing the name "Bold" suggests it's going this direction.
Apple has no shortage of cool. But the company's savvy seems to evaporate when it comes to the business world. The 3G iPhone is the perfect opportunity for Apple to make a big push into the corporate environment that abandoned Macs long ago.
We're going to see a fascinating battle between these two companies over the next few years.
Here's what others are saying about today's news:
WSJ: "The most important feature of the new BlackBerry, however, is that it acknowledges that, as work encroaches into people’s personal lives, people want to bring elements of their personal lives into their professional lives."
Citigroup analyst Jim Suva: Bold could boost RIM's quarterly shipments by 200,000 to 400,000.
UBS analyst Jeffrey Fan: "We believe RIM's broadening portfolio should widen its appeal to the mass market."
Ars Technica: "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that RIM has taken a few design tips from the iPhone this time around."
