Analyzing Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)

Why Sell Blackberry

Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) was a major player at the beginning of the smartphone industry and had a huge market share in the smartphone market. Today though, Blackberry is down to about a 5% market share.

I have read and watched reviews on the new Blackberry Z10 phone that’s supposed to save the company, and all I can say is I am not impressed. On one review, the casing for the phoneactually came loose while taking it out of the box. In addition, the user interface was not as responsive as iOS or Android, and to be honest it offered nothing that either of the other two phones did not already have.

I have used Blackberry phones in the past, but today, I consider their phones something I’d get for free when signing up for a two year contract. Five years ago, the flip phones and candy phones with physical keypads were the cheapest phone people could buy. Today, I would consider a Blackberry phone as the cheap flip phones of today.

Lack of Innovation

The reason I believe Blackberry failed as a company is largely due to their lack of innovation. They had the same types of phones for many years and only updated them for stylistic purposes. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) on the other hand both updated their phones’ looks as well as their user interfaces. The iPhone is sleek and sexy, and Android is hugely customizable in every aspect. The Z10, on the other hand, isn’t as sexy as the iPhone, and is not as customizable as the Android system. Blackberry never innovated at the same pace as Apple or Google, and the Z10 is a perfect example of that by not bringing anything new to the industry.

Blackberry’s Small Moat

I do not believe Blackberry has any competitive advantage over anyone else in the industry. Blackberry’s moat has been consistently breached by both Apple and Google with the iPhone and Android devices. The iPhone is silky smooth, has hundreds of thousands of apps, and is part of an ecosystem that works great with people’s computers, tablets, and TV’s. Google also has a great operating system on their phones and tablets, and has a cloud interface unmatched by anyone (even Apple). Blackberry’s ecosystem is mainly with the corporate world, yet both Apple and Google are making their phones more secure and customizable for enterprise systems.

So what has Blackberry got going for them that nobody else does? I can’t think of anything, and because of that, other companies are going to topple their already crumbling castle.