Amazon and Google’s Android Prevent BlackBerry from Going Under

Blackberry has experienced some good and bad moments during its lifetime. Recently, they aren’t faring too well. Do you remember your first BlackBerry? I do. It was my second phone and extremely difficult to use. I remember how frustrating the navigation was, since it wasn’t a touch screen. After two years I switched to an iPhone 3 and WOW what a difference! In hindsight, I don’t think I could ever go back to a non-touch screen phone.

Image: The Blackberry Bold, Google

As most of you know, BlackBerry has been the choice business phone for many companies since it is well known for the security it offers. On the negative side, it is also known for having users pay to access its servers in BlackBerry OS 10. The good news is that they decided to remove this feature from the phone and are now moving in the right direction; because let’s face it…who wants to pay fees to access their email account on their mobile device? Especially when they can get email for free on any other phone? I think NO ONE would be the correct answer!

That’s not the only negative; they also let a prime opportunity slip through their hands. They had the option to allow other mobile platforms to access BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) and could have opened a whole new market for themselves. Facebook paid $19 billion for WhatsApp and if BBM had been made available on Android and iOS sooner – it could have seriously boosted their success.

Also see: Contain Your Data in the Mobile Business World

After such a loss, BBM is clearly trying to learn from their past mistakes and make more strategic moves. Their first move is to adopt Amazon’s Android app store (which will be used as a secondary source of apps for the platform). The future apps for BlackBerry phones will most likely be Android apps that are compatible with the BB phones.

Every company must analyze their strengths and weaknesses. BlackBerry has chosen to face their weaknesses and is making an effort to fix them. These moves will no doubt save them from drowning in the competitive waters – where powerhouses Apple and Google dominate. Let’s hope that BlackBerry can make some major improvements in the design of their phones. If they did, I might even consider giving them one more chance (but only if they made it into a touch-screen!).

What has your experience been like with BlackBerry? Do you prefer using this phone for your personal or business use? Leave us a comment on Twitter and let us know!

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Source: Forbes