One Snub Is Not Enough for RIM

The Ontario-based smartphone magnate may be no longer at the top of its game. Many people are switching to other gadgets because BlackBerrys are no longer the star of the smartphone industry. Many have decided to sell Blackberrys in the course of last year and this year too. The people shifted to other cooler brands like iPhones and Android phones. Some have considered Nokia, HTC and Motorola phones. One cannot blame the shift. Since people need more than just a smartphone, it seems that BlackBerry phones are stagnant and not responding to market needs. They are known to cater one specific market: The corporate and the government. However, even people in their market need more than just a BlackBerry.

RIM just received major blows from the US government since several agencies will no longer require their services. The security features are what make these phones a federal favorite. However, over the years, this has been changing:

The Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement decided to swap their BlackBerry phones to Apple’s iPhones because the former can no “longer meet the mobile technology needs of the agency.” They released this decision in the month of October.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Credit Union Administration stopped BlackBerry handheld devices this year.

The Defense Department declared another decision about Ontario’s RIM. It announced last week that it has plans for buying a mobile device management system that supports Android and Apple smartphones but possibly will not support BlackBerrys.

That’s could be a reason why the government may want to sell used Blackberry phones. The shift does not exempt RIM’s most famous political client – Barack Obama. He is known to be a BlackBerry patron. However, recently, the President running for a second term is seen using an iPad.

Chief Information Officer for National Credit Union Administration Ronnie Levine says that “The user expectation has changed.” Employees in the agency have been carrying iPhones at all times. Chad Tucker, the administration’s chief for IT Operations, says that out of 1,200 employees, nearly 1,000 use Apple’s smartphone. They have decided to break their bonds with RIM even as the BlackBerry maker ensures their flagship smartphone and improved app release early next year. Tucker says “It was too little too late.”

Like other smartphone magnates, RIM does not disclose their federal market share. However, RIM claims to have one million government customers in North America alone; including the federal government. RIM’s Vice-President for Government Solutions Paul Lucier says that “We are going through a very major transition and we knew it would be challenging, and we are overcoming those [challenges].” Even though people chose to sell Blackberry phones online, more than 400,000 government customers chose to upgrade to newer BlackBerry units last fiscal year. “It’s great to see people upgrading those devices because oftentimes we have people comparing the latest devices in the market to a device that’s four [or] five years old,” Lucier says. The Ontario-based company is said to release a mobile device management solution that will allow agencies to regulate Apple, BlackBerry and Android smartphones.