So, a(n) nut job irrational iPhone fanatic asked me what I am going to do with all my free time once RIMarkable folds because Research in Motion will be bankrupt by June and out of business before the end of the year and I 1have nothing left to talk about. They challenged me to give them one reason why, “the iPhone won’t continue to dominate in the States and further knock the lackberry into oblivion…”
Now, even the most die-hard of iPhone users that actually base their commentary in reality know that the iPhone doesn’t dominate the U.S. market and, in fact, is number two to the BlackBerry, but, because I think this will be the fodder for some very interesting comments, I’m going to give you 10 reasons why, with their current model, Apple and the iPhone will Never dominate the U.S. market.
- Just one carrier — AT&T, for many, sucks is not an option…
- No iPhone with a physical keyboard — iPhone diehards can say that the virtual keyboard on the iPhone is all that anyone ever needs until they are blue in the face. The fact is that people who want physical keyboards don’t buy iPhones.
- The iPhone is not that great of a phone — The network may have a bit to do with this, however, if your primary goal is making phone calls, their are much better options.
- The iPhone is expensive — Smartphones in general are expensive but the iPhone really doesn’t have an inexpensive model (relatively speaking).
- The competition is catching up — I will give it to Apple… When they introduced the iPhone they showed the world something they had never seen before. The iPhone 3G and 3Gs, aren’t really all that much different than the original. Web OS, Android, and dare I even say BlackBerry devices have done and continue to do a lot of catching up.
- The iPhone really hasn’t made a significant dent in corporate America — Corporations are allowing iPhones access to corporate email. Corporations, on the other hand, have standardized on BlackBerry and Windows Mobile.
- No Single Killer App — I know that the iPhone has over 100,000 applications but, they don’t have BIS or BES Push email, PIN Messaging, or BlackBerry Messenger. They don’t have Google Voice either which I think will move into the realm of BlackBerry Messenger one day…
- No Multitasking — Are you really a smartphone if you can only do one thing at a time?
- The iPhone is a closed garden — When developers can effectively create applications they want to create on other platforms as compared to what Apple allows them to create on the iPhone, they will. Google is coming after the iPhone and they just may have the legs to do it…
- I can think of countless other reasons why the iPhone won’t dominate here in the U.S., but, since RIMarkable is a BlackBerry blog, probably with a lot of BlackBerry users that feel as I do, I’ll let you enter the tenth reason in via the comments as I am sure that I really missed some good ones…
#1 – this won’t last forever, I’m betting by the end of this year another carrier will have it.
#2 – this is strictly personal preference
#4 – Subsidised price is only slightly higher, not a deal breaker for most
#6 – maybe not with big biz that use BES, but smaller operation may like the fact that the iphone works with Exchange out of the box without any additional cost.
#7 why do you need a single killer app. the purpose of the device is that it does many thing. you could also argue their apps store is the killer app.
#9 maybe bad for developers, but good for consumers, you can buy an app for the iphone and not have to worry about it trashing you device and stealing your data. Android is going to have a big problem with this soon, you watch.
Gosh! Another iPhone fanboy…
It is really entertaining to see you guys peeking your nose everywhere saying iPhone this n iPhone that…
Not sure what the person was thinking when he/she said that RIM would be out of business. LoL. There stock price does not reflect gloom and doom:
http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=RIMM
#10. The iPhone is not a smartphone, it’s a funphone.
I think in 2010 we will see iPhone on other carriers. At least TMO and, possibly, a different model on VZW. There are people who do not like AT&T (I am one of them) for many reasons. It stands to reason that Apple will want to branch out and move away from the bad service umbrealla that AT&T puts them under. It will only mean more business for Apple if all carriers carry the iPhone.
The iPhone isn’t going anywhere and neither is the Blackberry. Not soon anyway.
A major part of why service is bad on the I phone is the radio itself . It is a well know fact the I phone radio (not including the 3Gs) was very problematic on the first and second gen handsets, thus adding to the reception issues many complained about.
I agree that RIM has a good future ahead. Many of your comments are reasons I do have an iPhone. The main reason the iPhone will not dominate is choice. The iPhone offers very little choice. I use BlackBerry at work all the time (I develop for iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, etc) and I can type 2-3 times faster on a virtual keyboard. The poor phone is not a big deal to me since I don’t actually use the phone that much. While I got my iPhone for a phone I don’t actually use it as a phone very much. No multitasking is usually a nice feature. As someone who has lived with a symbian and windows mobile phone and developed for Android and BlackBerry NO ONE has developed a good multitasking OS. We get TONS of tech support all related to poor multitasking support in OSs. Multitasking is one of many reasons windows mobile was horrible.
That said the iPhone is by no means going to dominate the market. Many people disagree with me and they have the right to and they should be able to get a phone that meets their needs, not mine. So RIM has a great future (especially since most people still use their phones for making phone calls 🙂
Stephen
@gquaglia
#2 — You are absolutely right which is why if Apple only offers virtual keyboard when there are millions of people that simply won’t use a virtual keyboard, they limit their growth.
#4 — This is a bigger deal than you think. Most people with the disposable income that actually want an iPhone, have an iPhone. Apple must grow in lower income markets where two hundred dollars is more like a car note than what you would pay on a cell phone. You can get, BlackBerries, WinMo, and Palm Pres completely subsidized these days.
#7 — I think the point is that consumers stick with BlackBerries because of these killer apps. It is enough of a reason for many BlackBerry users to stick with BlackBerry simply because BBM.
#9 — Don’t have an issue with this if Apple allowed third party appstores, but, I am thinking of leaving my iPhone 3G for Android because I don’t want Apple deciding for me what is good for me.
Sure iPhone does not dominate over Blackberry; but does it really need to?
Without having any data to back up my statement, its doing pretty well if you ask me (especially in big cities). I can barely walk around Manhattan without seeing one. BlackBerry comes in many different models and for all carriers, so of course it will dominate. iPhone keeps it simple with a few models that really only different in the amount of data it can hold.
As far as the costs, If your BlackBerry is $100 vs a $299 iPhone, don’t you still run into a problem of paying $50-$100 data plans still – isn’t this more of a concern to buyers. A cheaper Blackberry doesn’t eliminate this cost.
That being said I love my BlackBerry, but would have an iPhone faster than you can say Blackberry if my work used them.
You are such a fanboy and just can’t face the facts. The iPhone 3Gs sold more than any other BlackBerry in the US last year. When you are number 1 you dominate.
iPhoneRulz,
The report you are still referring to has the iPhone 3G, not the 3G S in the number one spot with 4.0% compared to the BlackBerry Curve 8300 with 3.7%. The report also covers Jan. through October. BlackBerry sales have dominated in the months of November and December since the iPhone came, but, for the sake of brevity, I will concede the point that the iPhone 3G was number one in 2009.
That being said, I will again point how your initial premise that iPhone sales dominate BlackBerry sales is just flat out false.
The only iPhone to make the top ten list you quote from was the iPhone 3G in the top spot with 4%. The Blackberry Curve 8300 was number two with 3.7%, the BlackBerry Storm 9530 was number seven with 1.4%, and the BlackBerry Pearl was number ten with 1.2%.
Now, I am not a math genius, but when you add 3.7 + 1.4 +1.2, you get 6.3%. That is over 36.5% more BlackBerry devices sold just out of the top ten alone. Even with the most liberal definition of dominance, you can seriously believe that well over than a third less iPhones being sold than BlackBerrys constitutes dominance of the iPhone over the BlackBerry.
Then again, being a die hard Cleveland Browns fan, I do kind of like your logic. Using it I can say that my Brownies dominated the Central Divison.
BOOO throw the bum out !!!! iphonerulz is a troll!!!!!
Apple has been in the business of building its brand and selling to consumers for over 30 years. RIM has been selling to consumers for 2-3 years. In it’s latest quarter 80% of BlackBerry’s were sold to consumers, roughly the same number of devices as sold by Apple.
You can’t remove the battery! I don’t want to be stuck without a phone just cause the battery is a dud. With Blackberry I just put a new battery in, with iPhone you got to take the phone in. If I go out of town I just bring a spare battery with me & not worry about charging it, can’t do that with iPhone.
All great reasons why the iPhone will never dominate the smartphone industry (even though its not a smartphone). The fact that there is no official back up, no easy email set up/integration, no themes or multi-tasking without jailbreaking your device, NO frees apps without a valid credit card and the absolute lack of a 3G Network Coverage provided by “the number one carrier in America?” AT&T. Until these problems improve, Apple will only continue to make devices for the “I need to be told what to do” crowd and they will never dominate. I like making my own decisions, therefore will never buy into Apple’s Democracy.
Wow. “therefore will never buy into Apple’s Democracy.” Give me an effin break dude. You are bashing the iphone because you cant change your theme? Well it looks like you are older the 18 so changing up your theme shouldn’t be an issue anymore…grow up. No multitasking? Well tell me how well your phone runs when you are running 4 or 5 programs at the same time….like crap. No multitasking is a great thing. No free apps without a valid credit card? Who the hell buys an iphone that doesnt already have a credit/debit card? And even better “apple will only continue to make devices for the “i need to be told what to do” crowd. Hahahahahahahaha you are such a moron. And you know what? I own a blackberry and not an iphone. I just cant stand morons like you bashing this amazing phone.
I’m not bashing the iPhone just for the no theme changing there bud. It was one comment of others, that you can’t do without Jailbreaking your device. As far as multitasking, your BlackBerry already runs 5 apps in the background at all times. But just a little info to give, I run about 6 more on top of the 5 already running at the same time and my device runs just fine. The iPhone is a good phone for what it is. Making phone calls.
There are several reasons why the iPhone falls short. Shoes was one of my reasons, the first was the trojan for iPhone, shoes. The iPhone isn’t insured. The memory and the battery can’t be extended. Yes the phone is fast, but the rabbit still doesn’t have anything on the tortoise. And since shoes, there’s been a few others especially with jailbroken iPhones. The iPhone is dependent upon a 3G network, it’s brilliance falls short outside of that. Those are my personal reasons why I wouldn’t want to purchase one. I’m content with my BlackBerry and everything I need to do or like to do can be done on it. Multi-tasking might be a great thing, but I don’t need more than three things up at a time, all I care about is getting things done.
RIM reminds me of Dell not many years ago. business is great now; however, over time, push email and other features won’t sustain continued growth and therein lies RIM’s problem. like Dell, RIM lacks vision and innovation. Their most compelling new product is the Storm & it probably wouldn’t exist without the iPhone.
the iPhone, itunes,apps juggernut seems unstoppable. the race is close now because of BOGO “free” phones & at&t’s contract with apple. the flood gates will open when the iPhone is available at multiple carriers. for me, like millions of others, it will be bye bye BB.
I have always been a BlackBerry fan but my one problem is with the apps. The BlackBerry App store has penty of apps for me that I want to try out. But my Storm has 8GB of memory but only 128MB that I can use for apps. I don’t take pictures much so while I have 7GB free, I have to delete one app to install another and then I run out of ram and the thing has to be rebooted.
The iphone in its 4, 8, 16GB versions, you can actually use the space for apps. That is my problem. I am about to upgrade to a Storm 2 which will have 256MB of ram but for really nice apps to be a possiblitiy, we have to restructure the OS to allow apps to use the rest of the memory.
I am still holding on with BlackBerry for now but I agree with a higher up comment that the advantages BlackBerry has now are limited and they need to catch up in many ways because in a few years those will no longer be relavent.
Microsft just said that they expect over 50% of businesses to move their Exchange to their new hosted solution in a few years. There goes BES!
My favorite.
8.No Multitasking — Are you really a smartphone if you can only do one thing at a time?
At present I have 5 apps running simultaneously, sometimes more.
The most important thing is for Blackberry people to simply stop trying to compare the iPhone with a Blackberry. That just perpetuates the myth that the iPhone is in the same league or is a comparable product. It’s an Apples and oranges comparison.
The iPhone is a toy, a fashion statement, a media player, but it is not a smartphone and it is not comparable to any Blackberry. It’s just something for people who have more money than sense to be able to say “look at me, I’m a technically inane yuppie!” Form over function and fanboyism over reality.
The iPhone cannot multitask 3rd party apps. Period. The main reason they did that was to give you the illusion of performance. If only one thing is *actually* running at a time, the phone is a lot faster.
The iPhone has a big screen but poor resolution. It has no external memory card support. My lowly Nokia 5800 walks all over it at about a third of the price. I have 640×360 resolution, 3G, wifi, native multitasking, micro SDHC support up to 32G (officially 16G) tons of aftermarket support with free apps, etc.
Stop the madness, people. Let the iPhone die.
This is the most well thought out, balanced response i have heard in a long time. I absolutely agree with you Fonage !!!!
I started using my iphone as a tablet computer after having serious issues with dropped calls on At&t. I intended to get rid of it after buying my first Blackberry, a Bold 9700, but now I keep both devices for specific uses. The Bold I use for calls, BBM and email, the iphone I use primarily for internet access and the large range of apps. I love how the BB has everything integrated, the battery life is phenomenal, and the form factor is nice.
I was surprised how clumsy the BB browser was compared to Safari, the serious lack of space for apps and the lack of apps as a whole. I’m not looking for games on my BB, but for my business I use Skype, 37 Signals’ Basecamp, Highrise, Evernote, and Chase Mobile Banking to name a few services. On my BB, they either are not available or cost a fortune compared to the iphone version. In the end, one device being better is a moot point when they both have deficiencies. RIM, is doing great business today, but if they really don’t step it up OS wise they can become another Palm.
I had a 3G s, the deal killer was the battery, with moderate use the iPhone battery will last about 9 hours and then fail, my Bold will last about the same, I often find myself out for 12 to 14 hours a day, when my Bold battery gets low I simply put in a spare battery and continue on, when my iPhone died I put it in my briefcase and reached for the Bold, this non changeable battery is a huge disadvantage, I gave my 3G s to my Daughter and even she runs out of battery occasionaly.
Iphone are easy to use and very usefull. in other words iphone rock and will continue to rule smart phones. (plus they never slow down and are virus proof)
i love my blackberry!
Gotta luv ma crackberry! I have an iphone that just sits around as a paperweight.
OK lets try that again
Ok my two cents!
1. Just one carrier – AT&T, for many, sucks is not an option…
AT&T, like O2 in Europe will lose their rights to be the sole distributor of the iPhone. When that happens then Apple will take each application for distribution on a case by case basis. Look at the UK where you can now get the iPhone on Orange, 02, Vodafone and Tesco mobile (yeah that’s right Tesco, the supermarket chain.) So now all that remains as a barrier is what the new carriers will charge in terms of their Data packages.
2. No iPhone with a physical keyboard – iPhone diehards can say that the virtual keyboard on the iPhone is all that anyone ever needs until they are blue in the face. The fact is that people who want physical keyboards don’t buy iPhones.
But how many people actually want a physical keyboard? Hmmm? That is a bs argument cause the amount of people who prefer virtual to physical probably cancels each other out. But…the iPhone installed dictionary is much smarter than the BB one. I mean it recognises more words and installs punctuation much more accurately.
3. The iPhone is not that great of a phone – The network may have a bit to do with this, however, if your primary goal is making phone calls, their are much better options.
A phone is a phone is a phone! Dropped calls and poor call/signal quality are nothing to do with the handset and all to do with the network so this is another bs argument.
4. The iPhone is expensive – Smartphones in general are expensive but the iPhone really doesn’t have an inexpensive model (relatively speaking).
The iPhone will come down in price when it opens up to new carriers. It happened here and it is obvious that it will happen there too.
5. The competition is catching up – I will give it to Apple… When they introduced the iPhone they showed the world something they had never seen before. The iPhone 3G and 3Gs, aren’t really all that much different than the original. Web OS, Android, and dare I even say BlackBerry devices have done and continue to do a lot of catching up.
Are you talking about the Storm 1 and 2? Seriously? The Storm 1 is easily one of the worst put together pieces of kit in christendom. I have one and it’s the biggest load of garbage I’ve ever had the misfortune to use as a phone. The battery life is terrible, it has no WiFi, the internal memory for apps etc is shockingly small, the browser is timid and slow, the accelerometer is easily the worst in it’s class and the touch screen is more like a push screen and it using it in landscape to type is horrible. The Storm 2 was given to me cause I complained so bitterly about the Storm 1. I handed it back after 2 days because it was just as crap as the Storm 1.
If you aren’t I’m assuming you are talking about the apps etc which again is utter garbage. Apps on the BB are hard to find and even harder to download in case you crash your phone cause the internal memory can’t handle the app size. Through iTunes you have access to hundreds of thousands of apps that do everything that the BB can do and they are easy to download and easy to use.
6. The iPhone really hasn’t made a significant dent in corporate America — Corporations are allowing iPhones access to corporate email. Corporations, on the other hand, have standardized on BlackBerry and Windows Mobile.
How long do you think this is going to last? Honestly?
7. No Single Killer App – I know that the iPhone has over 100,000 applications but, they don’t have BIS or BES Push email, PIN Messaging, or BlackBerry Messenger. They don’t have Google Voice either which I think will move into the realm of BlackBerry Messenger one day…
I’ve never used PIN, I use BBM maybe once a week and so what if you have to get your phone to check your mail. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing and we won’t be ruled by our emails coming in! I’m a BB user and sometimes when my phone chimes at 2am with some spam email then I get annoyed. And I know I can turn of alerts – but sometimes I forget.
The point is that there are so many apps for iPhone that it doesn’t need a killer app. Really, it doesn’t.
8. No Multitasking — Are you really a smartphone if you can only do one thing at a time?
Multitasking isn’t a game breaker for me, it is for some. Again it’s a personal choice, but I wouldn’t bet on Apple not introducing it in the near future. But seeing as you are asking, are you really a smart phone if you as slow as my Storm 1 is? I mean multitasking is fine if the phone can actually multitask without wheezing!
9. The iPhone is a closed garden – When developers can effectively create applications they want to create on other platforms as compared to what Apple allows them to create on the iPhone, they will. Google is coming after the iPhone and they just may have the legs to do it…
Google may have the legs but they to have their issues to contend with such as poor customer service and if you say the iPhone is costly then surely you must think the same for the Nexus 1. I for one have no problem with Apple trying to have some sort of control over what apps get licenced. I may mean that some of the terrible apps that I’ve paid for on my Storm wouldn’t even be available which wouldn’t be a bad thing!
10. I can think of countless other reasons why the iPhone won’t dominate here in the U.S., but, since RIMarkable is a BlackBerry blog, probably with a lot of BlackBerry users that feel as I do, I’ll let you enter the tenth reason in via the comments as I am sure that I really missed some good ones…
I don’t own an iPhone. I’ve said before I’m considering getting one, just as I am considering a Nexus 1 or perhaps a Nokia N900. I’ll never go RIM again unless its supplied to me for work. How long has OS 5 been available for the Storm 1 and VFIRE and RIM are still discussing how to roll it out in Ireland!
At the end of the day the iPhone isn’t perfect but nor is the RIM offering and saying that iPhone will never dominate in the US is utter BS. You can’t say that with any certainty! Saying RIM will go under is utter bs too, there are too many out there who like what they get, but for my money, if you are a personal user, then you get a better offering from other handsets, iPhone included.
Oh and anyone who tries to defend the Storm 1 think about this!
The only reason RIM launched the Storm 1 is because they didn’t want to fall behind Apple in the touchscreen race. When it went to market, within days, they had to drop the price because the feedback was so terrible. They launched to emulate Apple and ended up with Apple Struddel all over their faces.
Hugh, you make very valid points and I am not going to rebut all of them, however, they are almost all hypothetical or things that Apple will do eventually. In the “right now” Apple doesn’t offer the iPhone on anyone but AT&T. The iPhone doesn’t multitask. The iPhone isn’t a joke in corporate America, but, not much more than one…
Notice that in the second paragraph of this post I qualified my assertion by stating, “with their current model” meaning Apple’s current mode of operation with the iPhone. Most of what you point out here is Apple changing their mode of operation. It assumes, however, that RIM, Google, Palm, Microsoft, and everyone else, however, aren’t adapting themselves.
Hypothetically speaking, RIM could make a better BlackBerry, with better application memory allocation, with an overhauled OS that is better than that on the iPhone, and a better mobile browser than Safari. RIM could also make it easy for developers to port applications between platforms such as Android and WebOS.
At the end of the day, the iPhone is a cool device, but, unless we change the definition of dominance, in the here and now, RIM is still top dog and will be for some time to come.
Who really cares. Why do people always compare the BB vs. the iPhone? Each has their strengths and weaknesses. Why does it matter if the iPhone “dominates” the smartphone market or not? Are BB users suppose to feel better about ourselves if it does not? Does it somehow justify our decision to use a BB over an iPhone? I, for one, am comfortable with my decision. Maybe other should be too.
What about that battery???? the thing is sooo effing small. the other huge issue is its a data pig!!!!!
Have you looked at the Iphone 4? Half of the stuff you’re are saying has already been in improved alot. I know this isn’t the most current blog post, but for new comers changing the info woulf be nice. I may be a Blackberry user, but when the Iphone comes to my carrier I’m getting on the apple express.
You really should remove this article now or rename it to “10 reasons why I should never write another column”.