Can its first Android Smartphone save Blackberry?
Blackberry often comes up when talking about fallen titans of the technology industry, and is the perfect example of how not to handle a company when a better product comes along.
The product I am talking about is of course, the iPhone, which absolutely disrupted the industry and ended up starting a new trend of full-touch phones that could do just about everything you asked it to.
Blackberry responded it in the only way it knew: ignorance. It didn’t improve its products, or even felt intimidated. It felt that it was too big to fall, and boy, it was wrong. Now, Blackberry phones occupy less than 2% marketshare, and they had to offer their flagships at extremely low prices just to push units off the shelves.
Now, after rumors, leaked videos and photos, Blackberry sort of announced its latest Smartphone, the Blackberry Priv, also codenamed Venice. It is remarkable in many ways. It is the company’s first Android smartphone. It is the first flagship (or even half-way decent) slider smartphone in years. It really stands out among the crowd with a combination of high-end specs, Android and a hardware keyboard.
It is a very interesting concept on paper, but can Blackberry execute this concept properly? Blackberry needs to prove itself with this one, and needs to show to consumers that the Priv is a viable choice for a flagship smartphone. Blackberry should market it properly, and should show that the Priv is a unique smartphone and that there’s nothing quite like it on the market.
Did Blackberry deliver? Hardly. Forget the hardware, Blackberry’s first challenge is marketing. For instance, at the device’s first official public demonstration, the demonstrator (Who is also the CEO of Blackberry) showed that he knew nothing about the smartphone. Imagine the CEO of a company not knowing about his own products. He referred to the product as ‘running Google’ when it was in fact running Android and throughout the demonstration was shaky and uncertain about what each feature does (Watch the video for more). I mean, if Blackberry itself doesn’t know about its smartphones, why should I bother?
Now that would be less of a concern (a tiny bit less) if the hardware was executed well. Blackberry knows hardware and has been making hardware keyboards for over a decade. So it should be great, right? Wrong. According to a leaked hands-on, the end product feels flimsy and bulky and the keys are small and tough to type on.
The last USP of Blackberry’s smartphones is usually security. And sure enough, the Priv comes with Android Lollipop with Blackberry’s security features. However, whatever security features Blackberry slaps on, Android is still inherently insecure. For instance, in 2015, Android has a Stagefright vulnerability that affects more 87% of devices. If something of this scale can be present in Android, then who knows what more is out there? Enterprises wouldn’t be comfortable adopting the Priv if it runs an inherently insecure operating system.
The leverage Blackberry had over other smartphones is not there here, and while the concept is interesting, it probably won’t be executed well and thus won’t be received well. Not popular with businesses, not popular with consumers, where will Blackberry do. Officially, Blackberry says it would close down its Hardware division. I, for one, make a prediction that Blackberry would be sold off only to never be heard from again. What do you think? Please comment your views, and follow me for more such stories!
NOTE: Watch the accompanying video for more information. It also shows John Chen demonstrating the smartphone.
