“The case has already been tried and judgments have been passed. The murder of the BlackBerry was committed by none other than Apple and assisted by Google’s Android,” Richard Saintvilus writes for TheStreet. “Now, as for the iPhone and the attempts made on its life, not only has Microsoft failed, but in the process it suffered some life-threatening injuries as it has failed to make a dent in the smartphone market. It soon realized that not only was it out of its league, but it came to the realization that in order to better compete with Apple and Google, it needed help.”
Saintvilus writes, “Its response was to partner with Nokia to see if a joint venture could do to its rivals what both firms have been unable to do on their own. However, Nokia was also in disarray and not only fighting for its own life against Apple, but it lost its status to Samsung as the world’s leading device manufacturer in terms of global sales… What is also interesting about this “partnership” with Nokia is that it has only worked in Microsoft’s favor while hurting Nokia’s market share. Either Nokia has not been smart enough to realize this or it does not care. In either situation, it is a dead company walking as Microsoft has done nothing but sucked the life out of its business. Yet, Microsoft still faces an uphill battle as it only hopes to make a dent with its upcoming release of its Windows Phone 8. I think it will require another Nokia-type partnership if it hopes to make a meaningful run on the iPhone. This time it will look to exhume Research In Motion… ”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Two wrongs. It would be redundant for Microsoft to give DCW its potent kiss of death.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
RIM couldn’t beat Apple when RIM was at the top of its game. It’s so Ballmer-esque for Microsoft to think they could improve on that when RIM is now at the bottom.
Only buy for patents.
So, Apple is a murderer, and Android is the accomplice, now?
Less purple reportage and more accurate characterization would be, to me, Apple the King of Beasts brings down the wildebeest on the Serengeti, and Android the pack of hyenas sneaks in later to squabble over the offal.
nice analogy.
Murder? More like a mercy killing.
LOL!
LOL….more like LMAO. That is funny in a sad sort of way. They have to be in agony just waiting for the inevitable end that is coming.
Android is the copycat killer.
Yeah, I was thinking Apple charged and knocked it sideways. Android has done the cowardly thing and jumped in to stomp it to death.
Without wishing to rewrite history, it would have been interesting to see Google fighting RIMM with their Blackberry copycat OS. But of course the iPhone rewrote that scenario.
I don’t think RIM is going anywhere. They have about $1.5 billion in cash in their books and that will take some time to run down. I hope they survive and be a third force in mobile computing. I’ve got nothing against them. They make phones that many executives I know swear by. The physical keyboard for them is a lifesaver. They can’t see themselves using an iPhone, no matter how many times I’ve tried to persuade them.
Some say the lack of a physical keyboard is a weakness, some say the iPhone’s small screen is preventing them from switching. While I agree with the statement about the small screen – the iPhone looks like a tiny object in my hands – 4.5″ would be ideal, the lack of a keyboard is a mental crutch that many cannot do without.
I wish RIM all the best. At least their OS is not derivative, like Android. I have no respect for Android simply because they ripped off iOS and are intellectually dishonest about it.
Accurate, and succinctly stated. Still, RIM’s CEOs’ flippant dismissal of Apple, their lame responses to competition, their narcissism and arrogance, their delusional press releases, and their insulting marketing all continue to rankle many of us.
Geez, you’d think they’d invented hockey or something with an attitude like that!
M$ show go for it and buy RIM. They are only 4.5B and M$ need to waste their money on another outdated business.
Both Nokia and RIM were slow to react to the changing market. If either of them had worked on an Android phone 2-3 years ago they would be in a much healthier position. Both of these companies had the market share to support the transition. Personally I don’t like Android but it is the only viable OS that can compete with iOS.
Nokia is like Dell – made money by market share but lost out when something better came along.
RIM is like PALM – had a neat propriety system that offered a niche market but lost out when the iPod came along and phones got smarter.
Microsoft and RIM, sure, this will certainly bring Apple to its knees!…
I mean, look how badly Apple has suffered due to Microsoft partnering with NOKIA!
Boy o boy! Apple executives must be just shaking in their boots!
It is sick. Like a bunch of druggies in a downward death spiral.
It is obviously clear to anyone with an IQ over 100 that Balmer doesn’t have the smarts to run a major corporation.
I love these guys both drowning because they can’t swim… So there plan us to grab on to each other…. Love it
Wow, Analysts don’t seem to recognize, that buying RIM would cause BB to use the Windows 8* for phones. Well, if customers are forced to change operating systems, guess what, they evaluate the market and make an objective choice on merits of the hardware / software available. There is no lock in, and when you do the comparison, Apple and to a lesser extent Andorid, look a lot better than windows phone.
That’s why the Nokia deal isn’t working our, and that’s why a RIM deal would be a waste of money for Microsoft.
At his juncture, if I were Microsoft, I’d be looking to milk every penny possible on PC Windows and do what ever I had to do to get Office on every tablet, (phone?) and PC possible, including Apple, Android and Linux. Then I’d get started on inventing the next great thing.
Wake up people! Microsoft wants to destroy competitors, not buy or partner with them!
Apple and Android win by competing and if some company fails because they can’t compete, well, that’s the way it works.
MSFT is a killer, Apple and Android are competitors.
There is very little additional damage MSFT can inflict on RIMM. MSFT’s game plan is to eliminate potential competitors by sidling up and stabbing them in the back.
The MSFT partnership with Nokia was to kill Nokia’s MeeGo project, a linux based phone operating system that would have given Nokia a unique advantage in the market and could have been a worthy competitor. Mission accomplished! – now, MSFT doesn’t give a sh*t about what happens to Nokia.
I don’t understand how stupid the shareholders of Nokia are. Ex-Softie, Stephen Elop CEO, is clearly a plant whose job is to oversee and ensure the failure of Nokia.
Apple and Android out-competed RIMM and RIMM failed all by themselves, MSFT didn’t have to get its hands dirty. Maybe MSFT will pick up a few pieces of RIMM or Nokia, it doesn’t matter. It’s over.
I’d like to see Nokia oust Elop, bring back MeeGo and become a competitor again.