Gallery: The Mistakes That Cost BlackBerry Its Crown
01Blackberry
Up until the birth of the iPhone in 2007, BlackBerry (or the company formerly known as RIM) had an iron grip on the smartphone market. It had put email in your pocket like no other company at the time. It had all the tools it needed to rule the smartphone school for years to come. But a series of mistakes has nearly killed the company as it failed to live up to its potential on multiple occasions. Instead of improving on a solid product, it rested on its laurels. And so it fell behind while the market moved forward. Missing one opportunity can inflict short-term harm, but missing multiple opportunities is akin to self-destruction. These are the moments in the history of BlackBerry (RIM) as it went [from king to court jester](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/business/2013/08/killing-the-blackberry/). *Photo: Roberto Baldwin/WIRED*
02The iPhone
The iPhone ---------- For the most part, BlackBerry was churning out the same basic phone design for years. The biggest break from its "slab with a keyboard" track was 2006's BlackBerry Pearl. RIM introduced the user-friendly handset with a media player and sub-par camera to take on contemporary offerings from companies like Motorola and Nokia. Meanwhile, Apple was working on something that would change the mobile landscape entirely. The 2007 launch of the iPhone didn't just re-energize the stagnant smartphone market, it caught the rest of the industry off guard. One unforeseen fact was that the iPhone proved to be a hit with customers who wanted to do more than just connect to their company's email servers. Apparently, the average person wanted a real web browser, too. Businesses may have remained faithful to their keyboard phones, but the entire consumer market began ignoring not only RIM, but also Microsoft, [Motorola](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eywi0h_Y5_U), and Palm. This was the first major step toward RIM's dethroning. *Photos: Jon Snyder (left) and Jim Merithew/WIRED*
03The Wi-Fi Problem
The Wi-Fi Problem ----------------- With the announcement of the iPhone, Wi-Fi became a must-have feature in all smartphones. Fortunately, the Wi-Fi enabled BlackBerry 8820 launched in September of 2007. Unfortunately, it was aimed at the business market. The true iPhone competitor, the completely touchscreen BlackBerry Storm, would launch in November 2008, and it would land in stores without Wi-Fi. While the BlackBerry Bold 9000 and other business phones would come standard with Wi-Fi, BlackBerry ditched the connection for consumer iPhone competitor. It was an oversight that couldn't be overlooked by the average consumer hoping to stay connected everywhere. The Storm also introduced another problem -- a clicking touchscreen. *Photo: [Lee and Chantelle McArthur](http://www.flickr.com/photos/11544658@N00/2744922582/in/photolist-5byrRq-5y5bf8-4JYzCg-724G1R)/Flickr*
04SurePress Touchscreen
SurePress Touchscreen --------------------- RIM tried to have the best of both worlds: a touchscreen that felt like a keypad. Instead, it had produced a touchscreen experience that was the worst of both. The SurePress touchscreen clicked when you pressed on it. But instead of a light tap, you would have to give the screen an extra little oomph of pressure for it to register your taps. It made using the BlackBerry Storm a chore. Meanwhile, in September 2008, Google introduced its own mobile touchscreen operating system, Android. Now another competitor had arrived, and RIM knew it was time to revamp its operating system. *Photo: Daniel Salo/WIRED*
05BlackBerry OS 6
BlackBerry OS 6 --------------- The iPhone had been on the market for three years when RIM introduced OS 6 in late 2010. Android and iOS had robust app stores, multiple devices, and excited developers. RIM countered with a much-improved browser (based on WebKit, which was rapidly becoming the mobile standard), better social interaction, universal search, and an application switcher. But it was only a marginal upgrade over BlackBerry OS 5, and it looked like the company that had ruled the smartphone world only three short years ago was now innovating in a vacuum. A very slow-moving vacuum. But at least it was trying. Sort of. *Image: Blackberry*
06PlayBook
PlayBook -------- The PlayBook was proof that RIM was trying to actually compete in the market. After the release of the iPad in April 2010, BlackBerry reacted by releasing the PlayBook one year later. It theory, it seemed like a good idea. Android tablets were also flooding the market after the success of the iPad. But like most of the the first Android tablets, the PlayBook was a disaster. Most noticeably, BlackBerry -- the company that made its name on mobile email -- shipped a tablet without a native email or calendar client. The press and users savaged RIM for failing to deliver a shining jewel to spruce up its now tarnished crown. The company had sloppily rushed the tablet to market, and it showed. Early bugs were squashed with software upgrades, and an email client and calendar app finally appeared on the device (along with PlayBook OS 2) in February 2012. But by then, the market was being divvied up by iOS and Android, and there was no room for a slow starter. *Photo: Jon Snyder/WIRED*
07The Letter
The Letter ---------- In June 2011, The Boy Genius Report posted an [open letter](http://bgr.com/2011/06/30/open-letter-to-blackberry-bosses-senior-rim-exec-tells-all-as-company-crumbles-around-him/) from a disgruntled (to say the least) RIM higher-up. The first sentence, "I have lost confidence," was damning -- and a public relations nightmare. It also exposed problems within RIM. In hindsight, the open letter looks like a roadmap for RIM's recent transition from a bloated mess to a lean company pushing new phones and updating its OS as quickly as possible. The new company is courting developers, as the letter suggested. But, the letter and its cry for a more accountable company may have arrived too late to make a big difference. And these criticisms should have come from the very top, and not an angry employee. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED*
Nathan Denette08Dual CEOs
Dual CEOs --------- Every company needs someone at the top to make the hard decisions. RIM had two people. Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis acted as Co-CEOs. Under their reign, with Lazardis acting as the technical guru and Balsillie as the sales and marketing head honcho, the company thrived in a market that failed to deliver a device that connected as seamlessly to secure email. But once the market shifted and RIM had to compete with the always iterating Apple and Google, the [dual-boss scheme and dysfunctional management team](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/rims-long-road-to-reinvent-the-blackberry/article7901031/) it cultivated hurt the company more than it helped. In January 2012, RIM announced that the dual CEOs were stepping down and being replaced by RIM's COO Thorsten Heins. Heins made sweeping changes to the management team and created a company that worked [more like a startup](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/01/rim-blackberry-rebranding/) than a nearly 30-year-old corporation. But scrambling the company's DNA and launching a new operating system all at once proved to be tougher than everyone thought. *Photo: AP/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette*
09BB 10 Delay
BB 10 Delay ----------- With Heins at the helm, the company marched forward with its transition to the BlackBerry 10 operating system. The operating system and accompanying devices were expected to launch by the end of 2012, just in time for the holiday shopping season. But during a quarterly results call in June 2012, it was announced that the launch would be delayed until early 2013, causing RIM to miss the all-important holiday fanfare. Instead, [BlackBerry 10 launched](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/01/liveblog-blackberry-10-launch/) at the end of January 2013, along with a new flagship device, the touchscreen Z10. Oh, but the Z10, it was announced, would not be available until March 2013. At the same event, the company also rebranded itself as BlackBerry and dropped the RIM name. It had morphed into a new company, and leaving behind the errors, and name, of the past probably seemed like a good idea. But it didn't help the Z10 and keyboard-based Q10 in the market. During the first quarter of 2013, the company only sold 2.7 million BlackBerry 10 devices. During the same quarter, it saw its subscription base fall from 76 million to 72 million. So it's come to this. BlackBerry's new [special committee](http://press.blackberry.com/press/2013/blackberry-board-of-directors-announces-exploration-of-strategic.html) will look at "strategic alternatives," including being put up for sale. The company that made checking your email as easy as reaching into your pocket is exploring nearly every means possible in order to stay in the email game somehow, including the possibility of moving its business solely to software and services. If BlackBerry were a new company, we'd be in awe of its products. Instead, the company's errors, missteps, and bad timing have colored how we see the Canadian phone-maker. BlackBerry needs to fight now to stay alive, but it also needs to be careful. Because its next mistake could be its last. *Photo: Roberto Baldwin/WIRED*
