An analyst has raised questions\u00a0over whether the combination of a brand new operating system and two new smartphone offerings will provide enough for BlackBerry to regain market share.<\/p>\n
“BlackBerry has finally revamped its smartphone offerings after several years of sitting on the sidelines,” said market research and advisory firm, Frost & Sullivan.<\/p>\n
“If BlackBerry had showed this type of innovation several years ago, before Google’s Android platform had become so common, it may have had a real chance at becoming one of the three major players in the smartphone market.<\/p>\n
“Despite a somewhat innovative market offering, it may prove extremely challenging for BlackBerry to achieve the position of market leader,” the advisory firm said.<\/p>\n
Blackberry recently launched the next generation operating system, BlackBerry 10, which F&S says shows strong innovation from both a hardware and software perspective.<\/p>\n
Whilst other platforms in the market, such Android and Apple, have witnessed incremental upgrades, the BlackBerry 10 is completely re-built from ground up.<\/p>\n
At the core of the Z10 is Qualcomm’s S4 1.5GHz processor dual-core processor, the same processor that is in many of the leading phones on the market, including Samsung, Nokia, HTC and Motorola.<\/p>\n
The Z10 has a 4.2-inch screen with a 355 megapixel display and higher resolution than Apple’s iPhone Retina display. 70,000 apps have been made available on launch.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough the Z10 has a few appealing aspects, it falls well short of its rivals in the handset market,\u201d said Frost & Sullivan\u2019s ICT consulting manager, Ian Duvenage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe phone seems like a pre-release version with various bugs still hampering the experience. The integration of the applications onto the new BlackBerry 10 platform gives the impression that they are an afterthought with poorly executed flow and inconsistent placement of functions on the device.\u201d<\/p>\n
The BlackBerry 10 does, however, have a completely new user interface, merging the home screen, widgets, app lists and a unified inbox all into one interface, offering an easy-to-navigate user experience,” F&S notes.<\/p>\n
The multitasking facilities are also superior to its competitors, enabling users to move smoothly from one application to another. The BlackBerry 10 allows work (with BlackBerry Enterprise Server) and personal activities on the one device, while enabling them to be kept quite separate from each other.<\/p>\n
Of all the new features on the BlackBerry 10, this is the one that gives BlackBerry the greatest competitive advantage over its rivals, the research company opines.<\/p>\n
It notes that RIM’s market share has fallen significantly in recent years to the point where it now accounts for well under 10% of all smartphones sold globally. However, Blackberry is still popular in Africa as well as Asia.<\/p>\n
BlackBerry is the third-largest smartphone player in India after Samsung and Nokia, due to its low-cost handsets that can provide free phone and video calls over the internet via the BlackBerry Messaging Service (BBM), a feature that is particularly appealing to younger age groups.<\/p>\n
The launch of a significantly revamped operating system and greater choice of devices is definitely a big step forward by BlackBerry.<\/p>\n
In particular, the feature which separates business usage from home usage gives BlackBerry a distinct competitive advantage over its rivals.<\/p>\n
The key question, however, is whether this new initiative has occurred too late for BlackBerry to regain its status as a strong competitive force in the global smartphone market.<\/p>\n
If this level of innovation had occurred two or three years ago, it would have placed them in a much stronger position to regain significant market share from smartphones with Apple and Android platforms.<\/p>\n
Unless BlackBerry can gain a significant level of market traction over the next few years, it will become increasingly difficult for the company to maintain enough market share to achieve the necessary economies of scale and remain a significant force in the smartphone market, F&S argues.<\/p>\n
Frost & Sullivan believes that BlackBerry will need to gain strong support from the developer community and service providers, and bring devices to key emerging markets like India, the world’s second-largest mobile phone market, China\u00a0 and Indonesia at more affordable prices.<\/p>\n
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