RIM: Is the BlackBerry OS the weak link?
The Boy Genius Report has a treatise on Research in Motion's future and it's a must read for BlackBerry watchers. In short, the limitations of RIM's operating systems are becoming more apparent by the day and the company needs a plan to compete with the iPhone OS, WebOS and Android pronto.
The Boy Genius writes:
You have to look at the big picture here… for what RIM is working with (an incredibly miserable Java OS with so much security and encryption and smoke-blowing APIs) they’ve hit the jackpot. Their OS architecture is fantastic, their use of security is what makes them so trustworthy. But, as each handset release comes closer and closer, people start to see the bigger picture. And that’s the fact that RIM’s OS is more than antiquated, it’s borderline laughable. But it works, you’re thinking, so what’s wrong? I’ve been saying this for years, but it wasn’t designed to do anything the BlackBerry does now. Imagine scotch taping car parts to a 200hp engine and see how far that gets you. Obviously, it’s just a viciously rough metaphor, but we believe a correct one.
That passage---and there are many more that you should run to read---sums up RIM's challenge in the next two to three years. And the OS rant comes from a guy that plays with every BlackBerry that comes down the pike.
The BlackBerry operating system issue struck home for me while on vacation. My Storm was my only ramp to the Web. Under stress and heavy usage the BlackBerry OS was clearly struggling. You could almost feel it choke when switching between apps, browsing and handling basic tasks. The interface was fine, but under the hood something is off.
Will these OS limitations affect my next phone choice when my Verizon Wireless contract is up? Possibly. The device is only 25 percent of the smartphone game these days. The operating system is everything. Apple gets it. Palm gets it. Google gets it. I'm not sure that Microsoft gets it. For RIM, it remains to be seen if the company gets OS religion.
For my next phone, I'll be buying and OS instead of a device. If the iPhone comes to Verizon Wireless it's most likely a no-brainer for me. I have more than a year to see if Palm's Pre and WebOS is the real deal. Even the Motorola Android devices may hold promise for me. My last phone choice was basically an escape from Windows Mobile. If RIM doesn't get its OS strategy together I may ditch the BlackBerry too. All I really need is to browse and tether to my laptop as a wireless card on a good network.
Also read the comments to the Boy Genius post. He's clearly not alone in his BlackBerry OS worries. While Wall Street is focused on RIM's margins and next big hit it may want to spend some time asking about the company's OS strategy.
Here's the big question: Do the rewards of creating a new RIM OS outweigh the huge risk of derailing a company that's largely firing on all cylinders?