June 29, 2012 By

BlackBerry OS 10 Delayed

The newest version of RIMs software, version 10 (read more here) was set to debut later this year, but this has been officially delayed until Q1 2013.

Why?

Well the exact reasons are not known but an announcement of Q1 of 2012 figures may explain a bit of the story.  The company had a loss of $518 million and 5,000 job cuts.  That is a sizeable cut whatever way you look at it.

They NEED version 10 to save them from losses like this, so maybe it is a case of buying more time to make sure everything is right.  This is backed up by a quote from BlackBerry over at Know Your Mobile ‘development of the operating system has ‘proven to be more time consuming than anticipated’.

Whilst the figures sound serious and they are, in the same period RIM sold 7.8 million handsets and 260,000 PlayBooks.  Their user base sits at a massive 78 million.  So it is not all doom an gloom for the company.

The network and infrastructure that RIM have is impressive and is a killer feature for business, but there are two main reasons why in my opinion they could be suffering.

Number one is the on-going cost that BlackBerry devices have for a business or a user. They are higher than the ever increasing number of alternative platforms.

Secondly, the number of handsets available is much greater from other platforms.  Many users want bigger screens and high end features which are not apparent in BlackBerry devices.  The OS is always behind in terms of innovation too.

What are your thoughts?  Do you think BB are on a road to nowhere or are they just stuck halfway up a hill and at 2013 they will reach the top with the release of BlackBerry 10?

Sources: Lost in Mobile, Know Your Mobile

Tagged With: ,
About Jon

Constantly challenging opinions and looking for new opportunities, Jon develops the product ranges and business activities and very much strives to maintaining growth and taking Clove in to the future.

Never knowing when to stop, he spends too much time in the office! He's very organised; writes lists, reports, spreadsheets, you name it, he's on to it!! When he does relax, however, he can be found driving his pride and joy (his Range Rover Sport), walking his Dog, down the pub or at a local restaurant. He does too like the finer things in life and often lives beyond his means, only the best hotels will do.

Comments

  1. Hikari0307 says:
    June 29, 2012 at 1:16 pm

    With things how they are, RIM will never reach the top. They need something game changing like when the first iphone came out.
    Their only hope currently is to fight with Microsoft for third place. In fact in my opinion, if their new OS isn’t great, they will lose to windows by how it’s looking currently.
    Something big needs to happen to move Android and iOS from being the only ones fighting for first and second.

Trackbacks

  1. Free Telmap Navigator - Sat Nav and GPS Navigation for BlackBerry says:
    June 29, 2012 at 1:45 pm

    [...] posted earlier about BlackBerry having financial troubles and their new version of the OS being [...]