Plucking crackberries

When the Blackberry hit the scene in 2003, it appeared as a novel slice of multi tasking genius: business folks proudly admitted to being mildly addicted to their shiny “crackberries”. The gadget, a brainchild of Canadian company Research in Motion, seemed invincible. Today we know differently. The past few years have proved taxing for the Blackberry and the triumphant advance of its arch rival the iPhone has deemed it unfashionable in comparison. Last summer’s riots in London soiled the reputation of the brand name further, as Blackberry’s free BBM messenger service was the favoured tool of communication between looters and troublemakers.

As a result of unfortunate associations and mounting competition, Blackberry sales have plummeted dramatically, which is partially to blame for RIM’s disastrous losses; the company suffered a net loss of $125m (£78m) for the three months to March 2012, while it took home a profit of $934m the previous year. The decline of individual consumers has certainly contributed to the company’s shortfall, but the most significant blow has been the drop in orders from big corporations, entities that that now prefer to equip their staff with iPhone or Android devices.

In a desperate attempt to win back its quickly diminishing corporate clientele, the company’s new CEO Thorsten Heins has confirmed that Blackberry will be returning to its foundations and target business customers above all. To realise the plan, the launch of the latest version, the Blackberry 10, is expected to launch later this year, along with a new operating system that is well overdue. Time will tell if these steps will help to turn RIM’s fortunes around.