BlackBerry 10: put up or shut up for RIM

There are very few honors that people get to experience like being elected into a hall of fame. Last night the ballot of the 2013 class for Major League Baseball’s version was announced and debate over who deserves a place in immortality has just began. Every sports expert in the country will be throwing their opinions out.

The concept of hall of fames is also a popular hypothetical situation when debating just about anything. Take smartphones for example. if you were creating the first class to go into the mobile device hall of fame, what devices get in? Aside from the iPhone is there another clear-cut, first ballot choice? Well, if this was a few years ago, BlackBerry would also be on that list.

One of the pioneers of mobile devices for business use, Research in Motion (RIM)  – the company behind BlackBerry – has been seeing more lowlights than highlights recently. Other companies have realized the importance of business functionality which has lead to stiffer competition from Apple, Google and Microsoft.

A recent CIO Jury survey from Tech Republic found that even with BlackBerry 10 – the highly anticipated new operating system from RIM – set to release in January it could be too little too late for the former powerhouse.

The Jury was made up of the first 12 respondents – admittedly a small sample size. The comments from executives included that businesses have already moved on to iPhone and Android, RIM was stuck in a vicious circle and, if BlackBerry 10 is unsuccessful, RIM risks losing further ground.

Mobile devices have infiltrated the business world and companies that can adopt them properly will have the greatest chance of success.

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