BlackBerry – whether you remember the brand for its iconic handheld devices or have glimpsed the logo on modern smart cars, this technology pioneer has deeply impacted how we connect and compute. Once the undisputed leader worldwide in smartphones, BlackBerry devices ultimately faded with the rise of Android and iOS. However, the unique active circular LED light and vibrating alerts innovated for BlackBerry phones continue powering mobile notifications to this day.
And while BlackBerry no longer manufactures smartphones, behind the scenes its software technology enables everything from automotive infotainment systems to secured government communications. The story spans 40 years of relentless innovation – forever shaping personal and industrial technology alike.
Join me on a journey covering:
- The early days and wireless innovations that set the stage for BlackBerry‘s rise
- The origins behind the iconic brand name and themes of fruit
- The capabilities that catapulted BlackBerry smartphones to such popularity
- The devastating impact of missing the touchscreen revolution
- BlackBerry‘s fall from smartphone supremacy and desperate turnaround attempts
- The software and Internet-of-Things pivots powering BlackBerry‘s future
- And finally, could 5G smartphones allow for a BlackBerry comeback?
The Early Days: Lazaridis, Fregin and the Founding of RIM
Our story begins in Ontario, Canada back in 1984 – when childhood friends Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin co-founded Research In Motion (RIM). Fresh out of university, Mike Lazaridis managed to rent a tiny office above a bagel shop to start bringing his visions for wireless data systems to life. Douglas helped fund the early beginnings of RIM during these humble days trying to make technology history above a local bakery.
In the early years, RIM focused on building components to transmit data wirelessly – such as barcode scanners and modems. As Mike Lazaridis later recalled, "I loved electronics so much that for our honeymoon, instead of going to Hawaii, Joanne and I went on a three-week tour of device manufacturers in the United Kingdom and Scandinavia."
By the late 1980s, RIM began making waves in the wireless technology space by developing one of the first systems allowing pagers and payment processors to seamlessly send and receive data remotely. This breakthrough system attracted investor Jim Balsillie, who boldly mortgaged his house to inject $125,000 into RIM and joined Lazaridis as co-CEO in 1992 – bringing business savvy and visionary guidance to turn concepts into reality.
Under their leadership, RIM began experimenting with wireless handheld devices by 1993 under the brand name Inter@ctive. While far from today‘s powerful on-the-go computers, these early pagers and two-devices marked the small first steps on the path to the smartphones we can‘t live without today.
| Year | Device | Capabilities |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Inter@ctive Pager 900 | Commercial two-way SMS-based wireless pager. Beginning concept for bringing messaging/data to handheld mobile hardware. |
| 1996 | Inter@ctive Pager 950 | First two-way pager integrating email + fax capabilities. Showcased the potential for true handheld messaging and communications. |
Fun Fact: The "BlackBerry" name was inspired in 1996 by the keyboard buttons resemblance to the druplets of black fruit.
The Origin Story of the BlackBerry Name
The iconic name almost didn‘t happen though!
When developing one of the first email-capable wireless pagers in 1996, the Inter@ctive Pager 950, RIM‘s branding team said the small keyboard keys evoked images of the tiny individual druplets making up blackberry fruit.
As the story was told, the team began testing out various fruit-inspired names to capture this vision. The pager itself had a sleek black casing, so when "BlackBerry" was suggested following the trailing fruit themes of strawberry, blackcurrant, and more – they instantly knew they had a winner.
And so began the ascendance of one of the most recognizable tech brands worldwide – though most users would never know the keyboard imagery connecting those black fruits to the devices keeping us all connected digitally!
Taking BlackBerry Mainstream: The 850, 5810 and Bold
Over the next several years, RIM continued improving its wireless handhelds and email capabilities – including battery life, connectivity speeds, form factors while incrementally testing various fruit-inspired brands.
In 1999, the devices and network capabilities had advanced enough for RIM to fully commit to the BlackBerry name and identity. That same year, RIM announced a new wireless data network called BlackBerry that allowed real-time email syncing on the go. No longer did you need to manually check email without a computer – messages were pushed to the portable device instantly.
Pairing this new free-roaming network with the popular BlackBerry 850 pager allowed enterprise and business customers constant connectivity to email and messaging for the first time without being tethered to a desk. And once people got their first hit of mobile email via the 850, they were hooked!
| Device | Release Year | Tech Specs | Number Sold |
|---|---|---|---|
| BlackBerry 5810 | 2002 | First BlackBerry smartphone with mobile data, email, apps. QWERTY keyboard, audio headset, LCD color display. | 150,000 units |
| BlackBerry 7210 | 2003 | First wi-fi connectivity, improved battery. Browser, personal organizer, and other apps targeted business users. | 350,000 units |
| BlackBerry Pearl | 2006 | First BlackBerry with media player and camera. New trackball navigation. | 4 million units |
As the experience kept getting smarter, so did the branding and device design. In 2002, the BlackBerry 5810 was released – representing the first real modern QWERTY keyboard-based smartphone you‘d recognize today.
It could reliably access 2G data networks, sync email over wireless channels, make actual voice calls with a headset, install third-party apps like a personal organizer and browser. At just 5 ounces with a monochrome screen and tiny keyboard, it marked the beginning of the ultimate business smartphone.
And business users latched on quickly. The 5810 sold over 150,000 units rapidly, proving mobile professionals would pay a premium for constant connectivity and computing in their pocket.
By the mid 2000s, BlackBerry was leading the global smartphone revolution – releasing pivotal devices like the Pearl, Curve and Bold lines that became status symbols earning devotees and defining industries. They introduced consumer-friendly innovations such as scrollable trackballs for easier navigation, higher resolution cameras and displays, Bluetooth wireless syncing and global positioning – culminating in the 2006 word of the year going to "Crackberry" as users became hooked and dependent on access anytime, anywhere.
In 2008, BlackBerry boasted 30% US smartphone market share with over $3 billion in net income, second only behind Nokia globally. But despite having the world in the palm of its hand, internal dysfunction was brewing and massive disruption looming from unexpected corners of Silicon Valley that would soon threaten it all.
Missing The Touchscreen Revolution
While BlackBerry was riding high selling over 55 million smartphone units per year by late 2009, when Apple unveiled the iPhone in 2007 and Google launched Android OS in 2008 – RIM leadership arrogantly ignored these shot-across-the-bow threats.
BlackBerry‘s devices were tailored towards enterprise use, heavily optimized for email, messaging, and keyboard input. As Apple and Google went after consumers with app stores, games, digital media playback, and the magic of full touchscreens – RIM infamously dismissed these as toys incapable of meeting business security and functionality needs.
They doubled down on physical keyboards and slight iterative updates – claiming what worked before would be sufficient to maintain dominance in the future. But consumer behavior was changing rapidly and an increasing blurring of lines between mobile business and pleasure.
This fateful decision to mock the consumerization of IT and increasing user preference for touchscreens ultimately proved disastrous. Because while Nokia clung on far longer than expected on the merits of quality components supply chain and manufacturing, when BlackBerry finally tried to experiment catching up with touchscreen devices like the BlackBerry Storm in 2008 and BlackBerry Torch in 2010 – it was far too little, way too late.
The iPhone and Android devices had firmly captured mindshare thanks to better third party app ecosystems, sleek modern design, and intuitive operation. For enterprise, BlackBerry‘s reputation as the gold standard around security and compliance mattered less against the onslaught of slick gadgets that simply made life easier. And by 2011, both consumer and professional markets were fleeing traditional BlackBerries by the millions – plunging towards software ecosystems new and old that understood touch was the future.
The Downfall of BlackBerry Smartphones
The next half decade marked a steady downward spiral in which the meteoric rise of BlackBerry smartphones reversed course violently – shedding legacy phone users faster than Vancouver rain in January.
New smartphone launches in 2010 and 2011 like the BlackBerry Torch and Bold Touch failed to reignite sales. Longtime co-CEOs Mike Laziridis and Jim Balsille stepped down under pressure in 2012 – replaced by former COO Thorsten Heins with a mandate to modernize the company‘s structure and products.
In one last hurrah, Heins led rebranding RIM to simply BlackBerry in 2013 – alongside launching the brand new BlackBerry 10 operating system powering the critically praised Z10 and Q10 smartphones.
Unfortunately, the moves failed badly to return BlackBerry to its past consumer or enterprise glory. As this chart of plunging market share against Android and iOS illustrates, BlackBerry‘s fate was already sealed:
Global Market Share provided by StatCounter GlobalStats as shared under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
By 2016, with Android and iOS accounting for a combined 99%+ of global smartphone sales, new CEO John Chen announced the end of an era – disclosing BlackBerry would no longer develop, manufacture or support smartphone hardware going forward. Production officially halted in October 2016 – though third parties would continue licensed manufacturing leveraging Blackberry IP and software into 2022 before the legacy was finally put to bed.
It was a rapid fall from smartphone market leader and pioneer to also-ran has-been – out-designed and out-innovated largely by ignoring the threat from Apple and Google. But BlackBerry still had a few surprises up its sleeve as it pivoted to software and security – playing to its historical strength around enterprise solutions.
Pivoting to Software & IoT
With the internal smartphone party coming to a deafening end, BlackBerry leadership shifted focus to the most sustainable software and services business lines not subsumed by iOS and Android dominance.
In 2010, BlackBerry acquired QNX Software Systems from Harman International – seeing future potential leveraging the firm‘s strengths powering infotainment and telematics systems in connected, electric, and autonomous vehicles. Over 200 million current cars on the road today run BlackBerry QNX software.
Additional acquisitions like mobile security software company Good Technology in 2015 for $425 million added complementary stable revenue streams. And a renewed company focus on preventing device hacking, tracking assets, and securing mobile communication for governments and corporations accelerated the transition.
This software / services pivot ultimately saved BlackBerry from bankruptcy – stabilizing finances around cybersecurity and embedded operating systems after years of turmoil surrounding its failed phones.
And by 2018, the market again viewed Blackberry as an enterprise software player – enabling the company to acquire artificial intelligence and cybersecurity leader Cylance for $1.4 billion, its largest deal ever. Cylance‘s predictive software leverages algorithms to detect emerging software threats – providing Blackberry another recurring revenue engine powering next-generation security suites.
Today, BlackBerry‘s software and services Business is thriving – enabling the secure connectivity for everything from automobiles, mobile devices, cloud services and with an eye toward fueling smart cities and the broader Internet of Things (IoT) revolution.
So while BlackBerry no longer sells smartphones, in many ways the company‘s DNA and impact on technology – from keyboards and notifications invented during the smartphone era to advanced autonomy driving vehicles today runs much deeper than most consumers realize.
QNX now powers entire Transportation, Energy, Medical, and Industrial Internet of Things categories:
Which brings us to the next chapter in BlackBerry‘s saga: With brand power left and the 5G emerging – could smartphones be part of its future?
The Future: A 5G Smartphone Comeback?
Given the iconic status of old BlackBerry phones amongst Millennials and lingering brand recognition with Gen X professionals – there have been persistent rumors of the company releasing a modern smartphone.
The challenge is application processors and Android software advances have rendered moot the specific enterprise productivity advantages legacy BlackBerry devices touted. And pivoting smartphone manufacturing capability toward consumer entertainment purposes doesn‘t align with its renewed cybersecurity goals.
However, the flexibility and higher bandwidth of 5G networks potentially changes the equation. In August 2020, a Texas startup called OnwardMobility announced a licensing deal with BlackBerry to release a 5G enterprise smartphone leveraging the name and some software IP – but with FIH Mobile Limited designing the hardware itself.
Originally promised to ship in 2021, launch delays have some questioning viability. But BlackBerry remains invested in the project – likely recognizing legacy revenue potential combined with branding upside. Any profits require no R&D budget outlay enhancing its software cash cow.
If successfully launched with 5G, modern Android 11 software and signature physical keyboard – such a "prosumer" smartphone could uniquely appeal to former CrackBerry nostalgists. The high price however would limit mass adoption.
For diehard fans of clickety-clack keys and blistering data speeds – a 5G BlackBerry may fill the smartphone gap. But colors me skeptical anything rekindles their past consumer fire without differentiation. Because while retro brands evoke good vibes, technology relentlessly marches forward.
And BlackBerry itself cares far more about the software securing self-driving electric vehicles than competing against Apple iPhones any longer. Because the past is written – it‘s the future still to pen.
So I‘d welcome your thoughts – can you see a modern 5G BlackBerry smartphone resonating against more app-focused rivals? Or is the company‘s legacy now defined more by turbines, medical devices and automobiles enabled by its technology DNA outside mobile?
Either way, I hope you‘ve enjoyed this tour through BlackBerry‘s history – from wireless pioneer to smartphone Goliath upended by touch innovation it missed – towards software lynchpin securing the future. Quite the rollercoaster indeed!
Let me know your favorite BlackBerry memory or lasting impact from the iconic brand as we close down. Thanks for reading!
