Pulling the Plug on Playbook
The market for mobile media devices is growing rapidly, therefore creating a lot of competition amongst big name companies. Whether dealing with tablets, hybrid PCs, laptops, or smart phones, it is impossible to ignore the constant battles between who has the best qualities, who has the most functionality, who has the better bang for the buck, etc. Although larger companies that own most of the market share for these types of devices, such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft, have access to funds for research development and even failure, several smaller companies may find it harder to support several successful mobile projects at a time.
It is not uncommon that when people hear "Blackberry", they automatically stick up their noses; the company is seen as inferior and behind the times, and is often frowned upon for not being as quick, as innovative, and as compatible as other company's platforms. Although they may not have been doing well in the mobile device industry over the last few years, in 2011 BlackBerry (at the time known as Research In Motion) released their first tablet known as the BlackBerry Playbook. While the device may not have been as sophisticated and may not have had as many applications as more popular tablets on different platforms, this was proof that the company had been doing research and development to remain relevant.
It is also no secret that earlier this year (January 2013, if I am not mistaken), BlackBerry announced that they would begin rolling out modern smart phone devices that introduced the new BlackBerry 10 platform, and match several of its competitor's functionality. BlackBerry released an all touch screen, highly functional Z10, and soon after released a less costly, similar phone with a keyboard called the Q10. There has also been confirmation of the release of the even less expensive BlackBerry Q5 in several markets. With the rapid production and release of new BlackBerry devices with such little time in between, it could be completely possible that Blackberry's cost of revenue and operation could presently be higher than usual, actually creating a major loss in the little revenue that has been made.
In a recent announcement, Blackberry's VP of developer relations confirmed that BlackBerry will soon pull the plug on support for the BlackBerry Playbook tablet. This is mostly due to the fact that the Playbook "doesn't have the capabilities to run BB10 acceptably". At this time, the company is struggling financially. Just in the three months of their second quarter, Blackberry sold $6.8 million, but lost $84 million. They are currently in their third quarter of the fiscal year, and are not necessarily doing as well as planned. Between not having all the resources to focus on the redevelopment or upgrade form a tablet, and the current goals of the company, it may be best that BlackBerry cut its losses with the Playbook tablet.
Although the announcement to cut support was just recently made, there were several hints that could have convinced Playbook users that this time was going to come. The first (and most obvious) hint was the company's financial statements for the first two quarters of the fiscal year. The company has yet to come out of the red for its operating income for the last 5 quarters. While the deficit in operating income has been reduced almost four times since this time last year, and revenues and profits are the highest they've been in years, it's still not enough. Additionally, the company's CEO believes that although tablet sales are increasing, he essentially believes that the "center of the computing universe" is the smart phone, and that three to five years from now, tablets will be irrelevant. The last major hint is that there was no rumor, announcement, nor any attempt to migrate the Playbook to the new BB10 platform.
As a BlackBerry fan myself, it hurts to say that I can't imagine the amount of unpopularity the Playbook may have had compared to competing tablets. I agree that the best decision at this time is to focus on the wins and cut the losses.
It is not uncommon that when people hear "Blackberry", they automatically stick up their noses; the company is seen as inferior and behind the times, and is often frowned upon for not being as quick, as innovative, and as compatible as other company's platforms. Although they may not have been doing well in the mobile device industry over the last few years, in 2011 BlackBerry (at the time known as Research In Motion) released their first tablet known as the BlackBerry Playbook. While the device may not have been as sophisticated and may not have had as many applications as more popular tablets on different platforms, this was proof that the company had been doing research and development to remain relevant.
It is also no secret that earlier this year (January 2013, if I am not mistaken), BlackBerry announced that they would begin rolling out modern smart phone devices that introduced the new BlackBerry 10 platform, and match several of its competitor's functionality. BlackBerry released an all touch screen, highly functional Z10, and soon after released a less costly, similar phone with a keyboard called the Q10. There has also been confirmation of the release of the even less expensive BlackBerry Q5 in several markets. With the rapid production and release of new BlackBerry devices with such little time in between, it could be completely possible that Blackberry's cost of revenue and operation could presently be higher than usual, actually creating a major loss in the little revenue that has been made.
In a recent announcement, Blackberry's VP of developer relations confirmed that BlackBerry will soon pull the plug on support for the BlackBerry Playbook tablet. This is mostly due to the fact that the Playbook "doesn't have the capabilities to run BB10 acceptably". At this time, the company is struggling financially. Just in the three months of their second quarter, Blackberry sold $6.8 million, but lost $84 million. They are currently in their third quarter of the fiscal year, and are not necessarily doing as well as planned. Between not having all the resources to focus on the redevelopment or upgrade form a tablet, and the current goals of the company, it may be best that BlackBerry cut its losses with the Playbook tablet.
Although the announcement to cut support was just recently made, there were several hints that could have convinced Playbook users that this time was going to come. The first (and most obvious) hint was the company's financial statements for the first two quarters of the fiscal year. The company has yet to come out of the red for its operating income for the last 5 quarters. While the deficit in operating income has been reduced almost four times since this time last year, and revenues and profits are the highest they've been in years, it's still not enough. Additionally, the company's CEO believes that although tablet sales are increasing, he essentially believes that the "center of the computing universe" is the smart phone, and that three to five years from now, tablets will be irrelevant. The last major hint is that there was no rumor, announcement, nor any attempt to migrate the Playbook to the new BB10 platform.
As a BlackBerry fan myself, it hurts to say that I can't imagine the amount of unpopularity the Playbook may have had compared to competing tablets. I agree that the best decision at this time is to focus on the wins and cut the losses.
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