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Research in Motion Ltd.

Research in Motion Ltd. is known primarily as the maker and provider of BlackBerry wireless devices and e-mail services. These always-on devices have proven popular with corporations who use them for field service representatives and other mobile employees. BlackBerry's service delivers e-mail messages from corporate servers to handheld BlackBerry devices. Some models also have voice capabilities and can function as cell phones. Other advanced features include the ability to visit specific web sites and conduct Internet searches. In addition, BlackBerry devices include other features common to personal digital assistants (PDAs), including calendars and organizers. In addition to wireless handheld devices, RIM also provides radio modems to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and software development kits for creating applications for BlackBerry Wireless Handhelds.

Early History: 1984-90

Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM) was founded in 1984 in Waterloo, Ontario, by Mike Lazardis. Lazardis, the son of Greeks who immigrated to Canada from Turkey in 1967, was 23 at the time. He had recently dropped out of the University of Waterloo, where he was studying electrical engineering. Backed by loans from friends and family, Lazardis and two friends started RIM. The company's first contract came from General Motors of Canada Ltd. for industrial automation. For several years the company survived by moving from contract to contract. By the late 1980s RIM had about $1 million in sales and about a dozen employees.

Developing Digital Wireless Systems: 1990s

RIM became interested in the long-term potential of digital wireless devices after it received a contract in 1987 from Rogers Cantel Mobile Communications, Inc., a paging and cellular telephone operator that was a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc. The contract required RIM to investigate the potential of newer wireless digital network systems being developed by Sweden's LM Ericsson. RIM was soon manufacturing tiny wireless radio modems. By the mid-1990s these modems were being used by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in products ranging from computers to vending machines.

By 1991 RIM was developing software to support a complete wireless e-mail system. The company was part of a three-way partnership with Ericsson GE Mobile Data Inc. and Anterior Technology that was formed to develop the system. In January 1992 Ericsson introduced its first portable radio modem, which was designed for Hewlett-Packard Co.'s palmtop computer. Anterior Technology was to provide a gateway to major e-mail systems, and RIM provided the application programming interface (API). RIM's API, called MobiLab-Plus, would be used to develop e-mail packages with Anterior Technology. RIM noted that by using radio packet technology instead of cellular networks, the network could determine the optimum time to send an e-mail message. The system, which was still being developed, featured uninterrupted connectivity.

Realizing that he was better at engineering than corporate finance, Lazardis hired James Balsillie in 1992 to handle the company's finances and business development. Balsillie was a chartered accountant with an M.B.A. from Harvard University. He previously held executive positions with Ernst & Young in Toronto and with Sutherland-Shultz Ltd. Balsillie subsequently became RIM's chairman and co-CEO with Lazardis.

In the early 1990s RIM also produced a software developer's kit (SDK) for adding wireless connectivity to Windows 3.x applications. In 1995 RIM released version 2.5 of the SDK, which was called RAD I/O Connectivity Tools. The core of the SDK was a protocol that acted as an interface to RAM Mobile Data network, which was a two-way wireless data-packet network compatible with radio modems produced by IBM, Ericsson GE Mobile Communications Inc., and Motorola. The SDK's protocol handled all communications setups between Windows applications and Mobitex, the name of RIM's networking software. In 1996 RIM released a PCMIA plug-in card for computers that enabled wireless e-mail.

By 1996 manufacturers were beginning to focus on developing smart pagers that would utilize packet-based networks to provide wireless Internet access. RIM initially announced it had two such pagers in development for commercial release in 1997, one for the RAM Mobile Data wireless network and another that was compatible with Ardis Co.'s wireless network. RIM's pocket-sized smart pages would let users exchange pages, e-mail, and Internet messages via either network. Other companies developing similar smart pagers included NEC America Inc. and Motorola.

When RIM introduced its Inter@ctive pager in September 1996 at the PCS '96 trade show in San Francisco, the pager was able to use both the Ardis and RAM wireless networks. An innovative two-way messaging device, the Inter@ctive pager featured a QWERTY keyboard and a small, text-only display screen that showed four lines of text. It was developed jointly with Intel Corporation and included a 16-bit operating system along with built-in contact manager, scheduler, and forms-based messaging applications. With service provided by Ardis Co. and RAM Mobile Data USA L.P., the Inter@ctive pager could send and receive messages and had its own Internet address. The handheld device could also store 100KB of data and had a variety of pre-programmed response messages, such as "I'll be late." The list price for the Inter@ctive pager was about $675, not including service fees.

Released commercially in 1997, the Inter@ctive pager quickly became RIM's best-known product. By early 1998 the company had signed a contract to supply IBM with Inter@ctive pagers for use by its field service representatives across North America. Other customers included Panasonic Corp., Mobile Integrated Technologies, and Telxon Corp.

RIM completed its initial public offering during fiscal 1998. The company's stock was traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. For 1998, RIM reported revenue of US$21 million and net income of US$400,000. The company was in good financial shape. It had C$100 million worth of backlogged orders and C$109 million of cash and short-term investments. It planned to use about half of its cash on new equipment, sales and marketing, research and development, and as working capital. The company planned to use 10 to 15 percent of its sales revenue toward research and development.

Near the end of 1998 RIM introduced an upgraded version of its Inter@ctive pager. The 950 model was smaller, cheaper, and had a longer battery life than its predecessor, the 900 model. The 950 could send and receive e-mail, pages, and peer-to-peer messages as well as send faxes and text-to-voice messages. The Inter@ctive pager 950 was priced at $249, with service from BellSouth Wireless Data L.P. available for $25 per month. At the PCS '98 trade show in Orlando, RIM and Bell South Wireless Data announced they were working together with Sybase to develop a mobile enterprise solution that extended critical business applications to a two-way pager. The solution included the RIM Inter@ctive pager 950 and Sybase's UltraLite, a smaller version of its Adaptive Server Anywhere mobile database. The solution enabled corporate users to download and upload data on demand from their pagers.

Popularity of RIM's BlackBerry: 1999

Sensing that the time was right for corporate e-mail appliances, RIM introduced the BlackBerry mobile e-mail solution in February 1999. The BlackBerry included a wearable wireless handheld device with service initially provided by BellSouth's wireless network in the United States and Cantel AT&T wireless data network in Canada. A unique aspect of the BlackBerry was that it featured a push system for e-mail delivery, whereby e-mail messages were relayed from the user's personal computer or corporate server to the BlackBerry without having to dial in. The BlackBerry was an always on, always connected product that never had to be turned off. At its introduction a BlackBerry subscription package was priced at $399 with a monthly service charge of $40. Around this time RIM introduced the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, an optional add-on server that allowed e-mail to be redirected from the server rather than the desktop.

Reviews that compared the BlackBerry with 3Com's just-released Palm VII PDA noted two key differences aside from the fact that the Palm VII cost $599 compared to $399 for the BlackBerry. The BlackBerry had to be left on at all times, as did the user's personal computer or corporate server, while the Palm had an antenna that had to be raised to work. Another key difference was that the BlackBerry notified users of new messages, while the Palm VII did not. Both products included an address book, calendar, task list, and alarm clock features.

For 1999, RIM's revenue more than doubled to US$47.5 million. Net income was US$6.8 million. During the second half of 1999 RIM announced that several operators were offering RIM messaging solutions. In the United States RGN Corp. became the first Internet service provider (ISP) to offer the BlackBerry wireless e-mail solution to subscribers. GoAmerica Communications Corp. announced its support of e-mail access for the Inter@ctive 950 pager and BlackBerry service. Internationally, Venezuela-based Telcel Cellular became the first Mobitex operator in Latin America to offer a messaging solution using RIM's Inter@ctive 950e pager, which was the Spanish-language version of the Inter@ctive 950.

RIM also faced a few challenges in 1999. In August competitor Glenayre Technologies Inc. filed a patent infringement suit against RIM regarding a patented process involving power generation from a dual battery source. Glenayre claimed that RIM's Inter@ctive pager line used this patented process. In another development BellSouth delayed contract renewal negotiations with RIM. As a result RIM had to report lower-than-expected quarterly earnings. RIM's Inter@ctive pagers were contributing about 70 percent of the company's revenue, and BellSouth was the largest customer for those devices. However, new customers were being signed up, including American Mobile Satellite Corp. and Paging Network Inc. In addition, RIM signed a distribution agreement with Dell Computer whereby Dell account executives would sell BlackBerry devices to large corporate accounts. News of the distribution agreement helped boost RIM's stock price to more than C$80 per share by the end of 1999, up from C$46.20 on November 1.

New Competitors, Leading to Upgrades: 2000

RIM's BlackBerry enjoyed good reviews and was named Product of the Year by InfoWorld, which said, "The BlackBerry wins hands down when it comes to easy and timely access to e-mail messages." In January 2000 RIM and Canadian telecommunications giant Nortel entered into a joint marketing and product development agreement, which included a $25 million investment in RIM by Nortel. It was expected that the joint agreement would lead to making RIM's Inter@ctive pagers and BlackBerry service available in Europe. RIM also signed another agreement with Compaq Computer, which agreed to distribute RIM's BlackBerry service to its corporate clients.

For 2000, RIM reported revenue of US$85 million and net income of US$10.2 million. In April 2000 the company received a C$34 million investment from the Canadian government under its Technology Partnerships Canada (TPC) program. Around this time RIM introduced the first of its Wireless Handheld products, the BlackBerry 957, priced at $149. It featured a larger screen than the BlackBerry 950, a 32-bit Intel 386 processor, five megabytes (MB) of Intel flash memory, keyboard, embedded wireless modem, integrated organizer, and full support for the BlackBerry wireless e-mail solution. RIM also upgraded the BlackBerry 950, giving it four MB of memory, and introduced version 2.0 of its BlackBerry software to support both the 950 and the 957.

By mid-2000 RIM's BlackBerry service was hosted by numerous ISPs. The company had just signed a partnership agreement with America Online (AOL) to provide AOL Mail and AOL Instant Messenger service through RIM handheld devices. While Palm, Inc.'s line of PDAs held the largest market share, RIM was doing well serving the niche market of professionals who required mobile access to business-related e-mail. RIM had about 200,000 BlackBerry units in use, with about 50,000 of them at corporations. Other competitors included Motorola and OmniSky, and in the second half of 2000 Handspring Inc., a new company formed by Palm founder Jeff Hawkins.

By the end of 2000 RIM had released the AOL Mobile Communicator as part of its agreement with AOL. The device--part of AOL's new "AOL Anywhere" strategy--was a two-way pager that let users access AOL e-mail and instant messaging services. In other developments the company teamed with Certicom to provide secure transactions over its handheld devices, and it reached a new agreement with BellSouth Wireless Data to supply the company with 150,000 wireless handheld devices. BellSouth also agreed to offer the BlackBerry wireless e-mail solution to its corporate clients. In another development RIM licensed CDMA (code division multiple access) technology and patents from Qualcomm Inc., which allowed the company to expand its customer base to include wireless users on CDMA cellular and PCS networks.

In November 2000 Lazardis committed C$100 million to fund the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, starting with a C$20 million donation. It was the largest philanthropic gift in Canadian history.

Expansion of BlackBerry Service: 2001

In 2001 BlackBerry wireless e-mail service became more widely available in Europe. In April the British wireless service, BT Cellnet, committed to purchasing 175,000 wireless handheld devices and related software from RIM. Other agreements were signed with Esat Digifone in Ireland and Telfort Mobiel in the Netherlands to offer BlackBerry service.

RIM also expanded in the United States through agreements with companies such as IBM, which agreed to issue about 6,500 BlackBerry devices to its field-support staff and market the service to its customers. Vaultus, a wireless solution provider, agreed to supply at least 50,000 BlackBerry devices to its Global 1000 corporate customers over the next two years. RIM also took steps to target the U.S. military market. It reached an agreement with Kasten Chase to develop secure wireless access to the U.S. government's Defense Messaging System, which had 300,000 users globally. The overall military market included more than two million defense personnel.

Throughout 2001 RIM added enhancements to its products. In January it introduced the BlackBerry Enterprise Edition server for Lotus Notes and Domino. Previously, the BlackBerry system worked only with Microsoft Exchange servers, which had about 58 million users. Lotus Notes and Domino servers had about 65 million users.

In March RIM introduced the BlackBerry Enterprise Server 2.1 at the CTIA Wireless 2001 trade show in Las Vegas. The new version enabled web access for BlackBerrys for the first time and also allowed users to send updated calendar information to and from their central system. At the same time the company announced an alliance with GoAmerica Communications Corp. that allowed wireless downloads. These enhancements moved RIM's BlackBerry service significantly beyond wireless e-mail.

For 2001, RIM's revenue more than doubled to US$221.3 million. However, increased operating expenses resulted in a net operating loss of US$4.7 million. The company's overall net loss was US$7.6 million. For the year RIM reported it had nearly 164,000 BlackBerry subscribers in 7,800 companies. By the end of 2001 there were more than 12,000 organizations in North America using BlackBerry, according to Wireless Cellular magazine.

In May 2001 RIM filed a patent and trademark infringement complaint against competitor Glenayre Technologies Inc., claiming that Glenayre blatantly imitated BlackBerry technology and marketing. Around this time RIM also obtained a U.S. patent called the BlackBerry Single Mailbox Integration patent, which covered technology that gave users the ability to have a single e-mail address on both wireless and desktop systems. The patent applied to the system and method that RIM pioneered for redirecting information between a host computer system and a mobile communications device. Later in 2001 Glenayre's 1999 patent suit against RIM was dismissed. In early 2002 RIM and Glenayre agreed to drop their lawsuits and work together to develop a wireless e-mail device that would incorporate Glenayre's messaging software.

In other developments, RIM expanded its presence in the consumer market by supplying Earthlink Inc. with BlackBerry service for its mobile messaging platform. Cingular Interactive, a wireless service provider, was also selling RIM devices to the general public. AOL, meanwhile, dropped the price of its Mobile Communicator from $320 to $99.95. In the enterprise market, RIM signed an agreement with software developer SAP AG to provide wireless access to its enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications. In October PeopleSoft became the first enterprise applications vendor to offer a secure wireless e-mail solution using BlackBerry in the European market. Following the terrorist attacks on Washington, D.C., and New York City on September 11, 2001, BlackBerrys were handed out to all 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives as a security measure. BlackBerrys were also cited as providing much needed communications during the crisis, and in January 2002 it was reported that police officers at Boston's Logan Airport were now equipped with BlackBerrys. By the beginning of 2002 RIM could boast that it had 250,000 BlackBerry subscribers among more than 12,000 companies.

Expanding Options, Entering New Markets: 2002-03

At the beginning of 2002 RIM announced that it was developing a wireless device capable of handling both voice and data communications. The new BlackBerry device was being developed in association with Nextel Communications Inc. and Motorola. An agreement with VoiceStream Wireless Corp. also laid the groundwork for the new generation of voice-enabled BlackBerry devices, which would run on VoiceStream's GSM/GPRS (Global System for Mobile Communications/General Packet Radio Service), instead of on RIM's less advanced pager network. RIM also teamed with AT&T Wireless to offer AT&T Wireless's corporate customers a BlackBerry that could place telephone calls over AT&T Wireless's GSM/GPRS network. In Canada a similar agreement was reached with Rogers AT&T Wireless, which was developing its own GSM/GPRS network to reach more than 90 percent of all Canadians.

RIM's new BlackBerry with phone service and always-on e-mail connectivity was introduced in March 2002. The BlackBerry 5810 could be purchased through network carriers, including AT&T Wireless, Voice Stream, and Cingular Wireless in the United States and Rogers Wireless and Microcell Telecommunications in Canada. Pricing was determined by the carriers, with VoiceStream offering the 5810 for $499 plus a monthly fee of $39.99 for the data package, which included one MB of web downloads. Voice service required a separate account. A similar device, the BlackBerry 5820, was being shipped to the European market. Around this time competitor Handspring launched its all-in-one communication device, the Treo.

With competitors releasing their PDA designs to manufacturers, RIM announced in April 2002 that it would make its BlackBerry designs available to OEMs and original device manufacturers (ODMs). RIM said it would provide consulting, interoperability testing and certification, and hardware and software blueprints. In addition, Analog Devices Inc., which supplied processors for RIM's devices, agreed to provide participating manufacturers with integrated processors that supported both GSM/GPRS wireless communications and Java applications.

RIM's expansion into European markets proceeded in 2002. In April the U.K. mobile operator Vodafone agreed to market BlackBerry wireless devices that operated over its GPRS network in the United Kingdom. In mid-2002 BlackBerry service was launched to corporate customers in Germany through an agreement with Deutsche Telekom, which had recently acquired U.S. wireless operator VoiceStream. Around this time BlackBerry service was also launched in France through an agreement with Vivendi Universal's mobile subsidiary SFR, which operated a GPRS network, and in Italy through Telecom Italia Mobile. In January 2003 BlackBerry service was introduced in Spain through an agreement with Telefónica Móviles S.A. and in Switzerland through an agreement with Swisscom Mobile.

In July 2002 InfoWorld magazine announced the results of its Readers' Choice Awards. RIM's BlackBerry won four separate awards, including Product of the Year and Best Handheld for the BlackBerry 957 and Gadget of the Year and Best Wireless Product for the BlackBerry 5810. PC Magazine gave the BlackBerry 957 its Editor's Choice Award for 2002. In another development RIM obtained a contract with the National Security Agency to provide it with customized BlackBerry devices that met the stringent security standards of governmental organizations.

RIM continued to add new product features, introduce new models, and partner with technology providers throughout 2002 and 2003. An agreement with BEA Systems Inc. called for the development of a framework to build web-based applications and services for BlackBerry devices. New software developed by Onset Technology Inc. enabled BlackBerry users to go to a specific web page or do a Google search without launching a browser. The software, called MetaMessage 4.0, also added network printing capabilities to the fax printing capabilities of earlier versions. Applications from providers such as Arizan Corp., Good Technology Inc., and Onset Technology enabled BlackBerry users to view e-mail attachments. An enterprise solution that made it easy to print from BlackBerry devices was developed in conjunction with Hewlett-Packard and Adobe Systems.

New BlackBerry models introduced in 2002 and 2003 included the 6710 and the 6720, which were Java-based and included an integrated speaker/microphone and delivered e-mail, phone, SMS, browser, and organizer applications. The BlackBerry 6510, which functioned as a walkie-talkie, was introduced by Nextel at the end of 2002, and Nokia announced it was developing a BlackBerry 6800 that functioned as a cell phone. In February 2003 RIM introduced a new, low-cost 6200 BlackBerry series that was designed to sell for about C$200. Comparable models, the 6210 and 6220, were launched for the European market. They were smaller than earlier BlackBerry versions but had more memory.

RIM continued to be involved in patent infringement suits in 2002. Good Technology, which developed and sold e-mail software that ran on BlackBerry devices, filed a defensive lawsuit against RIM in anticipation of being sued by RIM. RIM subsequently filed complaints against Good Technology as well as against competitor Handspring. In November RIM agreed to dismiss its suit against Handspring and license some of its keyboard patents to Handspring. In another development, RIM lost a patent suit brought against it by Chicago-based NTP, Inc., which held a patent that the court said was used to power BlackBerry devices. In early 2003 the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced it would review the decision in NTP, Inc. vs. Research in Motion and re-examine five RIM patents.

Financially, 2002 was a difficult year for RIM. For the fiscal year ending March 2, RIM reported revenue of US$294.1 million, a 33 percent increase over the previous year. However, the company reported its second consecutive operating loss, which increased from $4.7 million to $58.7 million. Overall, RIM's net loss was $28.3 million. At the beginning of fiscal 2003 RIM reduced its earnings estimates for the coming year, citing delays in carriers rolling out GPRS launches of their BlackBerry services. In November 2002 the company announced it would lay off about 10 percent of its workforce. Nevertheless, RIM CEO Jim Balsillie foresaw rising demand for wireless devices, and the company continued to announce new and enhanced wireless devices and services.

Principal Competitors: Good Technology, Inc.; Handspring, Inc.; Palm, Inc.; Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson; Nokia Corporation; Qualcomm Inc.; Sony Corporation.

Source: International Directory of Company Histories , Vol. 54. St. James Press, 2003.

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BlackBerry Limited

Article by Iris Leung

Updated by Jessica Poulin

Published Online February 26, 2012

Last Edited January 5, 2022

BlackBerry Limited (formerly Research In Motion) is a mobile communications company. Founded in 1984 by Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin in Waterloo, Ontario, the company released its first device — a pager capable of email — in 1999. Following the release of its first smartphone in 2002, BlackBerrys quickly became must-have pieces of technology, first among business people and later the general public. However, in the early 2010s they struggled to keep pace with the competitive smartphone market. In 2016, the company announced it would outsource all hardware production to other companies, instead focusing on software development. Today, BlackBerry is credited with putting Waterloo on the map as an innovation hub. The business trades under the ticker BB on the Toronto Stock Exchange and BBRY on NASDAQ.

Research In Motion Founded in Waterloo

Research In Motion (RIM) was co-founded in 1984 by University of Waterloo electrical engineering student Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin, a close childhood friend. The company’s humble beginnings started above a bagel shop in Waterloo , Ontario , where at least one employee had to build their own workstation. RIM was first launched as a software and computer science consulting business, but by 1988 they were developing a wireless data transmission system that would be used in pagers and wireless payment — making them the first to work on such technology in North America. This technology would eventually provide a foundation for the BlackBerry smartphone.

RIM’s work caught the eye of Harvard Business School graduate Jim Balsillie . The 31-year-old believed so strongly in the company’s technology that he remortgaged his house and backed the start-up with $125,000. He would join RIM as co-founder and co-CEO after making that investment.

Invention of the BlackBerry

After its launch, BlackBerry began its meteoric rise in the technology community. This was mostly led by co-CEO Jim Balsillie ’s enthusiastic travelling roadshow efforts, giving the device out for free at industry conferences and also promoting it to investment bankers on Wall Street.

The 11 September 2001 attack by terrorist organization Al-Qaeda on the United States solidified RIM’s reputation as a solid telecommunications provider, as its network remained intact when other wireless systems broke down ( see 9/11 and Canada ).

In 2002, the BlackBerry 5810 was released — the first device from RIM able to make calls. Within two years of introducing its cellphone service, RIM reported more than 1 million subscribers and reached 9 million by 2007. The BlackBerry started off as a device for investment bankers and early technology adopters but soon became the smartphone everyone owned or hoped to own.

NTP Patent Lawsuit

RIM’s success caught the attention of Virginia-based NTP Inc. and it sued RIM in 2001 claiming patent infringement. Although NTP doesn’t make any of its own products, it had filed patents on a mobile, wireless email system with the intention of building the technology in the future. NTP ended up winning the case, which resulted in an initial court order settlement of US$23.1 million.

RIM spent a lengthy three-year battle in appeals courts before a settlement was made for a final US$612.5 million in 2006.

The lawsuit dampened growth for RIM as the company reported in 2006 that the number of BlackBerry subscribers fell by 120,000 in that year’s fourth quarter. A spokesperson attributed this to uncertainty surrounding the NTP litigation, which had caused customers in the US to defer any BlackBerry purchases. Revenue in that quarter also suffered, as RIM only managed to hit US$560 million instead of its projected $620 million. Though significant, the company’s finances were stable enough to be able to survive the setback.

As a part of the settlement, RIM was able to continue selling its products and services without having to pay royalties to NTP.

Competition from the iPhone, Google Android

By 2007, RIM had acquired more than 30 per cent of the US smartphone market and was second only to Finnish telecommunications firm Nokia globally. That same year, Apple, a computer company from Silicon Valley, released the iPhone, disrupting the smartphone market and becoming one of the main catalysts of RIM’s decline.

Did you know? Silicon Valley is the nickname for the southern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California where many tech companies operate. Situated mainly in the Santa Clara Valley, the area gets the “silicon” portion of its nickname for the many silicon computer chip manufacturers in the area.

The iPhone was a game changer for the smartphone industry because of its touchscreen, which allowed users to navigate the Internet via Apple’s Safari Web browser. Its launch of the App Store in 2008 also redefined the needs of the early smartphone market by offering a platform for third-party apps.

Initially, RIM leadership did not view competitors such as Apple and Google as threats because sales for the BlackBerry continued to grow — the company reached almost US$20 billion in sales by 2011. That year was the tipping point though, as consumers in North America and the UK, previously RIM’s key markets, were beginning to favour iPhones and Google’s Android phones.

In response to fierce competition, RIM released the BlackBerry Storm in 2008, which eliminated the QWERTY keyboard that made its devices famous in the first place. There was much criticism of RIM’s new touchscreen device, as users complained that they had lost the ease of text entry. Critics also felt that the BlackBerry operating system was inferior to the one that Apple had developed.

RIM responded to users and rolled out a hybrid device called the BlackBerry Torch in 2010, which featured both a touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard. The Torch fared well at the beginning, selling 150,000 devices within the first three days. However, Torch sales were unable to surpass those of the iPhone.

In 2009, RIM also launched its own third-party app store called BlackBerry App World, which came out nearly a year after the App Store and limited users to only a few hundred apps. By comparison, Google launched its own app store (called the Android Market) just three months after Apple’s.

To enhance its software experience, RIM acquired QNX Software Systems from American car technology company Harman International in 2010. While the idea to integrate QNX with BlackBerry’s operating system was strategic, the implementation took too long and RIM had to lay off 2,000 employees before the new software was complete. The layoffs were a part of what the company called a “cost optimization program.” RIM debuted the QNX software on a new line of tablets called the PlayBook, which never managed to achieve strong sales.

Did you know? In 2011, Canada Post released a series of four stamps commemorating Canadian innovations. The BlackBerry was one of the inventions featured in the series as it revolutionized communication. The other inventions featured in the stamp series included the cardiac pacemaker , the electric oven and electric wheelchair

Balsillie and Lazaridis Step Down

In January 2012, following the failure of the QNX software and the PlayBook, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis announced that they were stepping down. At that point, RIM had lost 75 per cent of its market value and Balsillie and Lazaridis reportedly had been grooming Thorsten Heins, who had been an executive with the company since 2007, for the role of CEO.

Balsillie and Lazaridis remained on the board, while Lazaridis took on a new title as vice-chair of the board of directors as well as chair of the innovation committee. On 29 March 2012, Balsillie resigned from the board and sold all his BlackBerry shares the following year; Lazaridis stepped down on 1 May 2013 and sold about 12 per cent of his shares that December.

RIM Rebrands as BlackBerry

With Thorsten Heins as CEO, RIM underwent several big changes, one of which was rebranding the company to BlackBerry in 2013 — the name of its flagship product.

Repositioning the company under a far more recognizable brand name suggested that RIM was hoping for a fresh start. At the same time as the rebranding, RIM released its long-delayed BlackBerry 10 operating system and Z10 and Q10 devices. While the new operating system and the Z10 touchscreen device were deemed vast improvements from past offerings, BlackBerry still faced challenges competing with the likes of Apple and Google. At the time, Android held 52.5 per cent of the smartphone market while Apple held 34.3 per cent.

Despite the new name and products, BlackBerry was unable to reclaim its market share. In November 2013, Heins, after less than two years in the chief executive post, was replaced by Silicon Valley executive John Chen.

Shift to Software and Secure Communications

In 2015, BlackBerry began to release smartphones that ran on a third-party operating system, the first of which was the BlackBerry Priv, which ran on a customized version of Android. This was followed by the DTEK50 the following year. Also in 2015, BlackBerry acquired one of its key competitors, enterprise mobile management company Good Technology, for US$425 million. The company’s focus shifted to the development of device management software, which helps businesses track employee phones to keep sensitive company information secure.

After failed attempts to get the company back on track, in September 2016 BlackBerry announced it would leave the smartphone manufacturing business. While CEO John Chen began outsourcing some production when he was hired in 2013, the development and manufacturing of future devices was entirely in the hands of overseas partners such as manufacturers Foxconn Technology Group and TCL Communications by late 2016.

In July 2017, the National Security Agency (NSA), the United States’ largest intelligence agency, endorsed BlackBerry’s software for encrypting phone calls and text messages. As a result, BlackBerry gained the approval necessary to sell its commercial encryption software, SecuSUITE, to members of the US government.

Also in 2017, BlackBerry launched a new smartphone and advertising campaign. The KEYone, an Android smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard, was unveiled under the slogan “Do More. Different.”

In November 2018, BlackBerry announced it would acquire artificial intelligence and cybersecurity company Cylance. The US$1.4 billion deal signalled a major investment in BlackBerry’s software business. According to news outlet Bloomberg, the acquisition was the company’s largest in seven years.

As of 4 January 2022, BlackBerry decommissioned legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry Playbook OS 2.1, and earlier software. Devices running these older operating systems will no longer be able to reliably make phone calls, send text messages or use data. The decommissioning of these legacy services and software mark BlackBerry’s continued business focus towards software and secure communications.

Twitter // BlackBerry

• communication
• telecommunications

Further Reading

Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff, Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry (2015)

Rod McQueen, Blackberry (2010)

External Links

BlackBerry The website for the mobile telecommunications company BlackBerry (formerly Research In Motion), home of the iconic BlackBerry smartphone. Click on the "Company" link at the bottom of the page for current corporate information.

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A History of Research In Motion - part 1

The future of Research In Motion hangs in the balance. It is the early summer of 1997, and Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie stand in a BellSouth conference room. They've spent the last few years trying to convince the world that mobile email is the future. They're almost there. RIM has already produced one device, the Inter@ctive Pager 900; and is developing a second - sometimes called the Leapfrog.

But BellSouth - the one and only customer for RIM's soon-to-be Leapfrog - isn't happy. They've spent $300 million to buy and build the Mobitex wireless network. But without products to make use of that network, BellSouth finds itself with an unprofitable enterprise. If BellSouth goes through with plans to sell the network, RIM loses its Leapfrog network and the only customer for the device.

RIM Co-CEO's Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie have but one chance to change the minds of the high-level executives in that room. The executives "walked in there thinking they were going to pull the plug," says Jim Hobbs, VP Operations, BellSouth Mobile Data. As Lazaridis begins the presentation that will decide the future of his fledgling company, he comes to a horrid realization. He and Balsillie had been so nervous about the meeting that they had left the models of the Leapfrog in their taxi. It was a make-it or break-it presentation, and the most important parts were lost.

In the Halls of the University

In the early days of Research In Motion, when the company had but one building near the University of Waterloo and funds for only one sign, Lazaridis insisted that it be installed facing towards the university on the back of the building. Said Lazaridis, "I don't really care if anyone else knows where the building is. All I want is the students to know where the building is."

It is no coincidence that Research In Motion sits just off-campus from the University of Waterloo. It is there that the story of the company begins. Mike Lazaridis, long a tinkerer of all things electrical, enrolled in the University in the fall of 1980. Lazaridis learned much, enrolling in electrical engineering and computer science classes. As part of his studies, Lazaridis worked with Control Data Corporation; building some of the most advanced computers of the time.

As Lazaridis neared the end of his fourth year at the University of Waterloo, graduation seemed less and less important. Along with his childhood chum and co-founder of RIM, Doug Fregin, Lazaridis was already hard at work building his first product - a device for displaying information "cards" on a television screen. Called Budgie, it was high-tech for the time.

Ready to truly start his new business, Lazaridis decided to take two-year leave of his studies. Before he could do so, Lazaridis was first required to gain personal permission from the president of the university. Doug Wright listened to the enthusiastic young entrepreneur as he explained his business plan. "I have to do this," replied the president, "I have to try and dissuade you...but speaking personally, just between you and me, go for it."

Poetry in Motion

Now the new company needed a name. Paradigm Research was the first choice to be registered, but that name was taken. Lazaridis tried submitting different variations of words combined with "Research," but each was rejected. As the registration application had to be accompanied by a $160 fee, the company was fast losing money before it even had a name. One evening, as Lazaridis was channel-surfing, he happened upon a bit of serendipity. A news story about football players taking ballet lessons. Footage of players dancing nimbly around the opposition accompanied the words on screen: "Poetry in Motion." Lazaridis submitted the name, and Research In Motion was officially incorporated on March 7, 1984.

The company's first product, the Budgie, was anything but a commercial success. Of the 100 that were manufactured, less than half were sold. But RIM did gain a bit of credibility and knowledge with the project. Soon, the company had a contract to design and build an LED notification system for use on General Motors' assembly line. It would be the royalties from this system that kept RIM afloat in those early times.

While designing that CDS-100 system, RIM acquired its first employee. Lazaridis and Doug Fregin hired Michael Barnstijn, recently graduated from the University of Waterloo, for the princely sum of $400 a month. Though his résumé was impressive, it was his cover letter done in calligraphy that caught the attention of the co-founders. Barnstijn turned out to be a wizard with computer code, finding and fixing bugs that were causing the entire system to crash.

Working Hard for the Money

RIM continued to find what might be considered odd-jobs. IBM wanted a local area network designed and built for them. A dentist wanted a toothbrush that knew how hard you were brushing. The National Film Board of Canada wanted a new system for synchronizing film editing. The system they built won an Academy Award in 1998.

In 1989, Rogers - the Canadian telephone company - had a wireless network with nothing to do. Outside of Sweden, only Rogers carried the new Mobitex network, designed for mobile messaging. After hearing about RIM - during a job interview, no less - Rogers contacted the company to see what RIM could do.

It would be their first big break into the wireless data world. With the knowledge gained from this contract, RIM began to understand wireless and radios like no one else. It is said that at times, RIM knew more about the Mobitex network than the manufacturer did. In later years, RIM convinced Ericsson to let them tweak the network settings, resulting in a huge increase in efficiency.

With all these great technological leaps, Lazaridis realized he had a problem. Though he had a firm grasp on the technology behind the brand, he desperately needed someone to help with the business side. Someone to "run the numbers." Someone to build partnerships. Someone named Jim Balsillie.

An Unusual Partnership

1990 marked the first year RIM made $1 million in revenue. It was then that one of RIM's customers wanted to buy more than just parts. Sutherland-Shultz was in negotiations to buy RIM; Jim Balsillie was brought in to be Sutherland-Shultz's closer.  Though RIM passed on the offer, Lazaridis did not pass on Balsillie.  Throughout the tense negotiations, he came to respect Balsillie. Lazaridis needed help with RIM and offered to Balsillie a partnership in the company.  Balsillie said no.  

It wasn't long before he changed his mind. Soon Vice President of Finance Jim Balsillie became Co-Chief Executive Officer Jim Balsillie. Few companies decide to use the Co-CEO dynamic. Some have had limited success with it; others have failed horribly. For Research In Motion, it just worked. Balsillie supported Lazaridis' business decisions, and Balsillie learned of technology from Lazaridis. As Balsillie says, "I know I'm just a parrot, but I'm a very good parrot."

It was around this time that Lazaridis decided to give his company a new direction. Though the RIM had success at creating one-off products, Lazaridis saw that the future was data without wires. RIM began to work on building new wireless radios from the ground up.

Do You Have Email?

It may seem strange to think of it, but in 1994; the question wasn't, "What's your email address?" It was "do you have e-mail?" Few individuals had email addresses; some corporations, universities, and salesmen had them, but few individuals. Even at this early time, Lazaridis recognized the potential of email as a communication tool. Even more so, Lazaridis envisioned email in the palm of your hand.

But there were problems. RIM had the knowledge, but the innards of the prototype device were much too big to be of use to anyone. The circuit boards contained only the bare essentials, but they were still entirely too big. Nearly by chance, two Intel employees happened upon this much-too-big circuitry during a tour of RIM's offices. The pair realized that Intel just might be able to help solve this gigantic problem. A year later, a prototype processor was ready.

That year was not wasted at Research In Motion. They spent time studying how people actually type and use a computer. Work was done to increase efficiency and improve battery life. As always, the goal was to create a device that could sit in the palm of the hand and run on a pair of AA batteries.

The Inter@ctive Pager 900 was born. To say that its users hated it would be a bit harsh, but not entirely untrue. By today's standards the device was enormous. Compared to today's Bold 9780, the 900 was three times the size and three times the weight. Even a Torch 9800 weighs less than half that of the 900. Oh yes, people complained. But they kept right on using the Inter@ctive Pager; you couldn't pry it from their hands.

Even as the Inter@ctive Pager 900 - aka the Bullfrog due to its size - launched Lazaridis and RIM were at work on its successor, the Leapfrog. Ready to get the jump on the competition, the new device was planned to be smaller and more useable. A trackwheel was soon added, allowing menus and messages to be traversed with ease. RIM wrote the software code that ran on the device.

And then BellSouth called.

Having realized the Leapfrog models were missing, the two RIM Co-CEO's immediately send someone to find them.  But even without his small production models, Lazaridis carries on.  He sets about to wow the BellSouth executives with the wonder of his invention. He speaks with passion and determination about how the Leapfrog would work. He explains in detail how BellSouth can take its wireless network from being the backbone of a cable truck dispatch system to being the backbone of a nation-wide, two-way email service for corporations. He tells told them of a mass of new customers if the company would but wait for RIM's mobile email.

At last, the models arrive. They are simple wooden ones, the size and shape of the Leapfrog to-be. Pasted on to them are slips of paper designed to mimic what the end user will see as he uses the device. The executives excitedly pass them around, each anxiously awaiting his turn with a wooden model of what will become a revolutionary email appliance.

The meeting was a success. BellSouth not only kept the network, but doubled its size. In August of 1997, BellSouth ordered $70 million (Canadian) worth of Leapfrogs. Research In Motion was on its way to providing wireless email to the masses.

There, out in the horizon of RIM's future, sits a device. It has a trackwheel on the side and a full QWERTY keyboard. In 1998, Balsillie and Lazaridis begin assembling their teams, readying themselves to build this completely new type of device. A device that will come to be called, "BlackBerry."

To be continued... 

Research In Motion vs. BlackBerry - Which name is better?

A few days ago, BlackBerry CEO John Chen sat down with Bloomberg to discuss his briefings with the White House, MDM and most notable for this post, the changing of the company name from Research In Motion to BlackBerry. Chen noted he liked the name Research In Motion better but alas, was not there when the change over happened so he wasn't able to weigh the pros and cons of it all....

Goodbye RIMM, Hello BBRY! - Research In Motion ticker change happens Monday, February 4th

Although it was only announced at the BlackBerry 10 launch event in NYC, the formal name change from Research In Motion to BlackBerry has been happening rather quickly. In fact, the changes have already started in Waterloo as the old signage is being replaced and new BlackBerry logos are going up. No transition like this is fully complete though, until the stock ticker name changes over...

Research In Motion rebranded to BlackBerry

Thorsten Heins has just announced on stage at the BlackBerry 10 launch event that Research In Motion will now be called simply BlackBerry. One brand, one promise. -Thorsten Heins Re-designed, Re-engineered, Re-invented. Awesome! Full press release below. Research In Motion Changes Its Name to BlackBerry Company adopts globally recognized brand, consolidates to single...

Highlights from the opening of RIM's Tech Centers in Brazil

Back in December RIM opened a Tech Center in Brazil. The tech center is part of the BlackBerry Academic Program and while we posted on the launch of one tech center opening, two centers at two universities were actually launched in the country - Federal University of Algaos (UFAL) and Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE). You'll remember that RIM also opened a Tech Center in the U....

The untold story of BlackBerry: New film details the spectacular rise and epic fall of the world’s first smartphone

Production has wrapped on BlackBerry, a new film that examines the rise and fall of the iPhone precursor and Research in Motion (RIM), the company behind it.

Based on the 2015 book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry , by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff, the film will star Jay Baruchel ( This Is The End ) and Glenn Howerton ( It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia ). They are expected to star as executives Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.

While production is complete, the film does not yet have a distributor. Financiers will look for buyers at the Toronto International Film Festival next month.

BlackBerry became wildly popular in the 2000s, earning the infamous nickname “Crackberry.” The device’s ability to combine phone services with email and text messaging was, at the time, revolutionary and paved the way for the iPhone, Android, and other smartphones. It was a technological giant that emerged from a largely unknown province in Ontario.

Business leaders and celebrities were equally infatuated. And in 2009, Fortune named it the world’s fastest growing company , with earnings per share expanding at a three-year annual growth rate of 84%.

Three years later, though, it was circling the drain . Its stock was just 10% of where it was in 2008.

The introduction of the iPhone in 2007 was the tidal shift for the company. RIM (and Balsillie and Lazaridis) shrugged off the threat, focusing on its enterprise customers. But as iPhone and Android began to appeal to everyday customers with well-designed, well-stocked app stores, RIM fell out of favor—fast.

Management, though, remained in denial, launching a poorly received iPad competitor called the PlayBook and pinning all their hopes on the BlackBerry 10 , which also flopped. And a 2011 network failure that shut off email access for millions of users was one of the final straws.

Today, the company is led by CEO John Chen. It has long since shifted into connected car technology and cybersecurity, leaving its phone history behind it.

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Research In Motion and the Blackberry

Jun 17, 2022

Lars Magnus Ericsson was working for the Swedish government that made telegraph equipment in the 1870s when he started a little telegraph repair shop in 1976. That was the same year the telephone was invented. After fixing other people’s telegraphs and then telephones he started a company making his own telephone equipment. He started making his own equipment and by the 1890s was shipping gear to the UK. As the roaring 20s came, they sold stock to buy other companies and expanded quickly.

Early mobile devices used radios to connect mobile phones to wired phone networks and following projects like ALOHANET in the 1970s they expanded to digitize communications, allowing for sending early forms of text messages, the way people might have sent those telegraphs when old Lars was still alive and kicking. At the time, the Swedish state-owned Televerket Radio was dabbling in this space and partnered with Ericsson to take first those messages then as email became a thing, email, to people wirelessly using the 400 to 450 MHz range in Europe and 900 MHz in the US. That standard went to the OSI and became a 1G wireless packet switching network we call Mobitex.

Mike Lazaridis was born in Istanbul and moved to Canada in 1966 when he was five, attending the University of Waterloo in 1979. He dropped out of school to take a contract with General Motors to build a networked computer display in 1984. He took out a loan from his parents, got a grant from the Canadian government, and recruited another electrical engineering student, Doug Fregin from the University of Windsor, who designed the first circuit boards. to join him starting a company they called Research in Motion. Mike Barnstijn joined them and they were off to do research. 

After a few years doing research projects, they managed to build up a dozen employees and a million in revenues. They became the first Mobitex provider in America and by 1991 shipped the first Mobitex device. They brought in James Balsillie as co-CEO, to handle corporate finance and business development in 1992, a partnership between co-CEOs that would prove fruitful for 20 years. 

Some of those work-for-hire projects they’d done involved reading bar codes so they started with point-of-sale, enabling mobile payments and by 1993 shipped RIMGate, a gateway for Mobitex. Then a Mobitex point-of-sale terminal and finally with the establishment of the PCMCIA standard, a  PCMCIP Mobitex modem they called Freedom.

Two-way paging had already become a thing and they were ready to venture out of PoS systems. So  in 1995, they took a $5 million investment to develop the RIM 900 OEM radio modem. They also developed a pager they called the Inter@ctive Pager 900 that was capable of  two-way messaging the next year. Then they went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1997.

The next year, they sold a licensing deal to IBM for the 900 for $10M dollars. That IBM mark of approval is always a sign that a company is ready to play in an enterprise market. And enterprises increasingly wanted to keep executives just a quick two-way page away. But everyone knew there was a technology convergence on the way. They worked with Ericsson to further the technology and over the next few years competed with SkyTel in the interactive pager market.

Enter The Blackberry They knew there was something new coming. Just as the founders know something is coming in Quantum Computing and run a fund for that now. They hired a marketing firm called Lexicon Branding to come up with a name and after they saw the keys on the now-iconic keyboard, the marketing firm suggested BlackBerry. They’d done the research and development and they thought they had a product that was special. So they released the first BlackBerry 850 in Munich in 1999. But those were still using radio networks and more specifically the DataTAC network.

The age of mobility was imminent, although we didn’t call it that yet. Handspring and Palm each went public in 2000. 

In 2000, Research In Motion brought its first cellular phone product in the BlackBerry 957, with push email and internet capability. But then came the dot com bubble. Some thought the Internet might have been a fad and in fact might disappear. But instead the world was actually ready for that mobile convergence. Part of that was developing a great operating system for the time when they released the BlackBerry OS the year before. And in 2000 the BlackBerry was named Product of the Year by InfoWorld. 

The new devices took the market by storm and shattered the previous personal information manager market, with shares of that Palm company dropping by over 90% and Palm OS being setup as it’s own corporation within a couple of years. People were increasingly glued to their email. While the BlackBerry could do web browsing and faxing over the internet, it was really the integrated email access, phone, and text messaging platform that companies like General Magic had been working on as far back as the early 1990s.

The Rise of the BlackBerry The BlackBerry was finally the breakthrough mobile product everyone had been expecting and waiting for. Enterprise-level security, integration with business email like Microsoft’s Exchange Server, a QWERTY keyboard that most had grown accustomed to, the option to use a stylus, and a simple menu made the product an instant smash success. And by instant we mean after five years of research and development and a massive financial investment.

The Palm owned the PDA market. But the VII cost $599 and the BlackBerry cost $399 at the time (which was far less than the $675 Inter@ctive Pager had cost in the 1990s). The Palm also let us know when we had new messages using the emerging concept of push notifications. 2000 had seen the second version of the BlackBerry OS and their AOL Mobile Communicator had helped them spread the message that the wealthy could have access to their data any time. But by 2001 other carriers were signing on to support devices and BlackBerry was selling bigger and bigger contracts. 5,000 devices, 50,000 devices, 100,000 devices. And a company called Kasten Chase stepped in to develop a secure wireless interface to the Defense Messaging System in the US, which opened up another potential two million people in the defense industry

They expanded the service to cover more and more geographies in 2001 and revenues doubled, jumping to 164,000 subscribers by the end of the year. That’s when they added wireless downloads so could access all those MIME attachments in email and display them. Finally, reading PDFs on a phone with the help of GoAmerica Communications! And somehow they won a patent for the idea that a single email address could be used on both a mobile device and a desktop. I guess the patent office didn’t understand why IMAP  was invented by Mark Crispin at Stanford in the 80s, or why Exchange allowed multiple devices access to the same mailbox.

They kept inking contracts with other companies. AT&T added the BlackBerry in 2002 in the era of GSM. The 5810 was the first truly convergent BlackBerry that offered email and a phone in one device with seamless SMS communications. It shipped in the US and the 5820 in Europe and Cingular Wireless jumped on board in the US and Deutsche Telekom in Germany, as well as Vivendi in France, Telecom Italia in Italy, etc. The devices had inched back up to around $500 with service fees ranging from $40 to $100 plus pretty limited data plans. The Tree came out that year but while it was cool and provided a familiar interface to the legions of Palm users, it was clunky and had less options for securing communications. The NSA signed on and by the end of the year they were a truly global operation, raking in revenues of nearly $300 million. 

The Buying Torndado They added web-based application in 2003, as well as network printing. They moved to a Java-based interface and added the 6500 series, adding a walkie-talkie function. But that 6200 series at around $200 turned out to be huge. This is when they went into that thing a lot of companies do - they started suing companies like Good and Handspring for infringing on patents they probably never should have been awarded. They eventually lost the cases and paid out tens of millions of dollars in damages. More importantly they took their eyes off innovating, a common mistake in the history of computing companies.

Yet there were innovations. They released Blackberry Enterprise Server in 2004 then bolted on connectors to Exchange, Lotus Domino, and allowed for interfacing with XML-based APIs in popular enterprise toolchains of the day. They also later added support for GroupWise. That was one of the last solutions that worked with symmetric key cryptography I can remember using and initially required the devices be cradled to get the necessary keys to secure communications, which then worked over Triple-DES, common at the time. One thing we never liked was that messages did end up living at Research in Motion, even if encrypted at the time. This is one aspect that future types of push communications would resolve. And Microsoft Exchange’s ActiveSync. 

By 2005 there were CVEs filed for BlackBerry Enterprise Server, racking up 17 in the six years that product shipped up to 5.0 in 2010 before becoming BES 10 and much later Blackberry Enterprise Mobility Management, a cross-platform mobile device management solution. Those BES 4 and 5 support contracts, or T-Support, could cost hundreds of dollars per incident. Microsoft had Windows Mobile clients out that integrated pretty seamlessly with Exchange. But people loved their Blackberries.

Other device manufacturers experimented with different modes of interactivity. Microsoft made APIs for pens and keyboards that flipped open. BlackBerry added a trackball in 2006, that was always kind of clunky. Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, and others were experimenting with new ways to navigate devices, but people were used to menus and even styluses. And they seemed to prefer a look and feel that seemed like what they used for the menuing control systems on HVAC controls, video games, and even the iPod. 

The Eye Of The Storm A new paradigm was on the way. Apple's iPhone was released in 2007 and Google's Android OS in 2008. By then the BlackBerry Pearl was shipping and it was clear which devices were better.

No one saw the two biggest threats coming. Apple was a consumer company. They were slow to add ActiveSync policies, which many thought would be the corporate answer to mobile management as group policies in Active Directory had become for desktops. Apple  and Google were slow to take the market, as BlackBerry continued to dominate the smartphone industry well into 2010, especially once then-president Barack Obama strong-armed the NSA into allowing him to use a special version of the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition for official communiques. Other world leaders followed suit, as did the leaders of global companies that had previously been luddites when it came to constantly being online. Even Eric Schmidt, then chairman of google loved his Crackberry in 2013, 5 years after the arrival of Android.

Looking back, we can see a steady rise in iPhone sales up to the iPhone 4, released in 2010. Many still said they loved the keyboard on their BlackBerries. Organizations had built BES into their networks and had policies dating back to NIST STIGs. Research in Motion owned the enterprise and held over half the US market and a fifth of the global market. That peaked in 2011.

BlackBerry put mobility on the map. But companies like AirWatch, founded in 2003 and  MobileIron, founded in 2007, had risen to take a cross-platform approach to the device management aspect of mobile devices. We call them Unified Endpoint Protection products today and companies could suddenly support BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and iPhones from a single console. Over 50 million Blackberries were being sold a year and the stock was soaring at over $230 a share. 

Today, they hold no market share and their stock performance shows it. Even though they’ve pivoted to more of a device management company, given their decades of experience working with some of the biggest and most secure companies and governments in the world.

The Fall Of The BlackBerry The iPhone was beautiful. It had amazing graphics and a full touch screen. It was the very symbol of innovation. The rising tide of the App Store also made it a developers playground (no pun intended). It was more expensive than the Blackberry, but while they didn’t cater to the enterprise, they wedged their way in there with first executives and then anyone. Initially because of ActiveSync, which had come along in 1996 mostly to support Windows Mobile, but by Exchange Server 2003 SP 2 could do almost anything Outlook could do - provided software developers like Apple could make the clients work.

So by 2011, Exchange clients could automatically locate a server based on an email address (or more to the point based on DNS records for the domain) and work just as webmail, which was open in almost every IIS implementation that worked with Exchange. And Office365 was released in 2011, paving the way to move from on-prem Exchange to what we now call “the cloud.” And Google Mail had been around for 7 years by then and people were putting it on the BlackBerry as well, blending home and office accounts on the same devices at times. In fact, Google licensed Exchange ActiveSync, or EAS in 2009 so support for Gmail was showing up on a variety of devices.

BlackBerry had everything companies wanted. But people slowly moved to that new iPhone. Or Androids when decent models of phones started shipping with the OS on them. BlackBerry stuck by that keyboard, even though it was clear that people wanted full touchscreens. The BlackBerry Bold came out in 2009. BlackBerry had not just doubled down with the keyboard instead of full touchscreen, but they tripled down on it.

They had released the Storm in 2008 and then the Storm in 2009 but they just had a different kind of customer. Albeit one that was slowly starting to retire. This is the hard thing about being in the buying tornado. We’re so busy transacting that we can’t think ahead to staying in the eye that we don’t see how the world is changing outside of it. 

As we saw with companies like Amdahl and Control Data, when we only focus on big customers and ignore the mass market we leave room for entrants in our industries who have more mass appeal. Since the rise of the independent software market following the IBM anti-trust cases, app developers have been a bellwether of successful platforms. And the iPhone revenue split was appealing to say the least. 

Sales fell off fast. By 2012, the BlackBerry represented less than 6 percent of smartphones sold and by the start of 2013 that number dropped in half, falling to less than 1 percent in 2014. That’s when the White House tested replacements for the Blackberry. There was a small bump in sales when they finally released a product that had competitive specs to the iPhone, but it was shortly lived. The Crackberry craze was officially over. 

BlackBerry shot into the mainstream and brought the smartphone with them. They made the devices secure and work seamlessly in corporate environments and for those who could pay money to run BES or BIS. They proved the market and then got stuck in the Innovator’s Dilemna. They became all about features that big customers wanted and needed. And so they missed the personal part of personal computing.

Apple, as they did with the PC and then graphical user interfaces saw a successful technology and made people salivate over it. They saw how Windows had built a better sandbox for developers and built the best app delivery mechanism the world has seen to date. Google followed suit and managed to take a much larger piece of the market with more competitive pricing. 

There is so much we didn’t discuss, like the short-lived Playbook tablet from BlackBerry. Or the Priv. Because for the most part, they a device management solution today. The founders are long gone, investing in the next wave of technology: Quantum Computing. The new face of BlackBerry is chasing device management, following adjacencies into security and dabbling in IoT for healthcare and finance. Big ticket types of buys that include red teaming to automotive management to XDR. Maybe their future is in the convergence of post-quantum security, or maybe we’ll see their $5.5B market cap get tasty enough for one of those billionaires who really, really, really wants their chicklet keyboard back. Who knows but part of the fun of this is it’s a living history.

About the Podcast

Computers touch all most every aspect of our lives today. We take the way they work for granted and the unsung heroes who built the technology, protocols, philosophies, and circuit boards, patched them all together - and sometimes willed amazingness out of nothing. Not in this podcast. Welcome to the History of Computing. Let's get our nerd on!

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A new film explains how the smartphone market slipped through BlackBerry's hands

Justin Chang

Jay Baruchel plays Research In Motion co-CEO Mike Lazaridis in the film BlackBerry. IFC Films hide caption

Jay Baruchel plays Research In Motion co-CEO Mike Lazaridis in the film BlackBerry.

Like a lot of people, I'm a longtime iPhone user — in fact, I used an iPhone to record this very review. But I still have a lingering fondness for my very first smartphone — a BlackBerry — which I was given for work back in 2006. I loved its squat, round shape, its built-in keyboard and even its arthritis-inflaming scroll wheel.

Of course, the BlackBerry is now no more . And the story of how it became the hottest personal handheld device on the market, only to get crushed by the iPhone, is told in smartly entertaining fashion in a new movie simply titled BlackBerry.

Briskly adapted from Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff's book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry , this is the latest of a few recent movies, including Tetris and Air , that show us the origins of game-changing new products. But unlike those earlier movies, BlackBerry is as much about failure as it is about success, which makes it perhaps the most interesting one of the bunch.

If you're clinging to an old BlackBerry, it will officially stop working on Jan. 4

It begins in 1996, when Research In Motion is just a small, scrappy company hawking modems in Waterloo, Ontario. Jay Baruchel plays Mike Lazaridis, a mild-mannered tech whiz who's the brains of the operation. His partner is a headband-wearing, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles -loving goofball named Douglas Fregin, played by Matt Johnson, who also co-wrote and directed the movie.

Johnson's script returns us to an era of VHS tapes and dial-up internet, when the mere idea of a phone that could handle emails — let alone games, music and other applications — was unimaginable. That's exactly the kind of product that Mike and Doug struggle to pitch to a sleazy investor named Jim Balsillie, played by a raging Glenn Howerton, from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia .

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Saying goodbye to blackberry's iconic original keyboard.

Jim knows very little about tech but senses that the Research In Motion guys might be onto something, and he joins their ragtag operation and tries to whip their slackerish employees into shape. And so, after a crucial deal with Bell Atlantic, later to be known as Verizon, the BlackBerry is born. And it becomes such a hit, so addictive among users, that people start calling it the "CrackBerry."

The time frame shifts to the early 2000s, with Research In Motion now based in a slick new office, with a private jet at its disposal. But the mix of personalities is as volatile as ever — sometimes they gel, but more often they clash.

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Mike, as sweetly played by Baruchel, is now co-CEO, and he's still the shy-yet-stubborn perfectionist, forever tinkering with new improvements to the BlackBerry, and refusing to outsource the company's manufacturing operations to China. Jim, also co-CEO, is the Machiavellian dealmaker who pulls one outrageous stunt after another, whether he's poaching top designers from places like Google or trying to buy a National Hockey League team and move it to Ontario. That leaves Doug on the outside looking in, trying to boost staff morale with Raiders of the Lost Ark movie nights and maintain the geeky good vibes of the company he started years earlier.

As a director, Johnson captures all this in-house tension with an energetic handheld camera and a jagged editing style. He also makes heavy use of a pulsing synth score that's ideally suited to a tech industry continually in flux.

BlackBerry: If You Don't Survive, May You Rest In Peace

The movie doesn't entirely sustain that tension or sense of surprise to the finish; even if you don't know exactly how it all went down in real life, it's not hard to see where things are headed. Jim's creative accounting lands the company in hot water right around the time Apple is prepping the 2007 launch of its much-anticipated iPhone. That marks the beginning of the end, and it's fascinating to watch as BlackBerry goes into its downward spiral. It's a stinging reminder that success and failure often go together, hand in thumb-scrolling hand.

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Flow Physics and Computational Engineering Mechanical Engineering Dept., Stanford University 488 Escondido Mall, Building 500 Stanford, CA 94305-3024, USA 650-736-0766 650-725-3525 Recent Changes 398 IMAGES Fichier:Research In Motion Logo.svg A History of Research In Motion PPT PPT PPT Research In Motion Culture VIDEO Wiki Research Basics Part 1 PC Motion Amplification UMSI students advance wildlife research with motion-sensor camera data Most Amazing Gadget😎 The Past and Future of Motion: Simon Robson on AI, Evolution and Staying Curious COMMENTS BlackBerry Limited BlackBerry Limited (formerly Research In Motion or RIM for short) is a Canadian software company specializing in cybersecurity. Founded in 1984, it developed the BlackBerry brand of interactive pagers, smartphones, and tablets. The company transitioned to providing software and services and holds critical software application patents. Jim Balsillie Jim Balsillie. James Laurence Balsillie (born February 3, 1961) is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He was the former chair and co- chief executive officer of the Canadian technology company Research In Motion ( BlackBerry ), which at its 2011 peak made US$ 19.9 billion (equivalent to $26.6 billion in 2023) in annual sales. RIM Company BlackBerry helps organizations defend against cyberthreats. Founded in 1984 as Research In Motion (RIM), BlackBerry is now a leader in cybersecurity — helping businesses, government agencies, and safety-critical institutions of all sizes secure the Internet of Things (IoT). Douglas Fregin Douglas Fregin. RIM co-founder Mike Lazaridis, employee Chris Shaw and co-founder Doug Fregin display the Budgie, the company's first product, at Fairview Park Mall in Kitchener, Ontario, 1984. [ 1] Doug Fregin is a Canadian entrepreneur and engineer. He is best known as the co-founder of Research In Motion (now known as BlackBerry) alongside ... RIM's rise and fall: A short history of Research In Motion Once a leader but now derided as a laggard, BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion hopes to regain the confidence of cynical smartphone users this week as the curtain is lifted on its much ... Research in Motion Ltd. -- Company History Early History: 1984-90. Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM) was founded in 1984 in Waterloo, Ontario, by Mike Lazardis. Lazardis, the son of Greeks who immigrated to Canada from Turkey in 1967, was 23 at the time. He had recently dropped out of the University of Waterloo, where he was studying electrical engineering. Timeline: From RIM to BlackBerry, a company in transition Research In Motion Ltd has launched its new line of re-engineered BlackBerry smartphones, taking the wraps off the long-delayed devices at a series of events around the world on Wednesday. BlackBerry Limited Last Edited January 5, 2022. BlackBerry Limited (formerly Research In Motion) is a mobile communications company. Founded in 1984 by Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin in Waterloo, Ontario, the company released its first device — a pager capable of email — in 1999. Following the release of its first smartphone in 2002, BlackBerrys quickly ... A History of Research In Motion The future of Research In Motion hangs in the balance. It is the early summer of 1997, and Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie stand in a BellSouth conference room. They've spent the last few years trying to convince the world that mobile email is the future. They're almost there. RIM has already produced one device, the Inter@ctive Pager 900; and is developing a second - sometimes... Film explores the rise and fall of Blackberry creator Research in The untold story of BlackBerry: New film details the spectacular rise and epic fall of the world's first smartphone. BY Chris Morris. August 24, 2022, 8:19 AM PDT. Production has wrapped on ... Research In Motion and the Blackberry Research in Motion owned the enterprise and held over half the US market and a fifth of the global market. That peaked in 2011. BlackBerry put mobility on the map. But companies like AirWatch, founded in 2003 and MobileIron, founded in 2007, had risen to take a cross-platform approach to the device management aspect of mobile devices. Timeline: Change at the top of Research In Motion Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, the tandem who led the company that makes the BlackBerry smartphone for two decades, have stepped down as co-CEO and co-chairman of Research In Motion. BlackBerry movie: Canadian film documents rise and fall of Research in BlackBerry centres around the masterminds at Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), the Waterloo, Ont.-based technology company responsible for creating what was once the world's most popular smartphone ... 'BlackBerry' review: How the world's first smartphone spiraled into It begins in 1996, when Research In Motion is just a small, scrappy company hawking modems in Waterloo, Ontario. Jay Baruchel plays Mike Lazaridis, a mild-mannered tech whiz who's the brains of ... Motion Motion. In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an observer, measuring the change in position of the body relative to that frame with a change in time. BlackBerry BlackBerry helps organizations defend against cyberthreats. Founded in 1984 as Research In Motion (RIM), BlackBerry is now a leader in cybersecurity — helping businesses, government agencies, and safety-critical institutions of all sizes secure the Internet of Things (IoT). The latest news and articles about cybersecurity, critical event ... BioMotion Laboratory BioMotion Lab, Stanford University. Publications: Corazza S, Mündermann L, Chaudhari A, Demattio T, Cobelli C, Andriacchi T: A markerless motion capture system to study musculoskeletal biomechanics: visual hull and simulated annealing approach Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 2006,34(6):1019-29. Mündermann L, Corazza, S, Andriacchi, T: The Evolution of methods for the capture of human ... List of mergers and acquisitions by BlackBerry Research in Motion said Friday that it had signed a deal with Harman International to acquire its QNX Software Systems unit to help tie its BlackBerry smartphones to car navigation systems. Terms of the deal were not announced. It is expected to close within 30 to 45 days if it passes regulatory approvals. Research In Motion Changes Its Name to BlackBerry WATERLOO, ONTARIO-- (Marketwire - Jan. 30, 2013) - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM) (TSX:RIM) has announced that it will now operate around the world under the iconic name BlackBerry, effective immediately. The Company will adopt the name of its revolutionary BlackBerry smartphone to coincide with the launch of its new mobile computing ... Stanford FPCE : Main A major new thrust in FPCE's research program is the quantification of uncertainties in numerical simulations and experiments. FPCE students and research staff are developing new methods and tools for generation, access, display, interpretation and post-processing of large databases resulting from numerical simulations of physical systems. Mike Lazaridis Mihal "Mike" Lazaridis OC OOnt FRS (born March 14, 1961) is a Canadian businessman, investor in quantum computing technologies, and co-founder of BlackBerry, which created and manufactured the BlackBerry wireless handheld device. In November 2009, Canadian Business ranked Lazaridis as the 11th wealthiest Canadian, with an estimated net worth of CA$2.9 billion (equivalent to $4 billion in 2023). San Andreas Fault Plaque showing location of San Andreas Fault in San Mateo County. The San Andreas Fault is a continental right-lateral strike-slip transform fault that extends roughly 1,200 kilometers (750 mi) through the U.S. state of California. [1] It forms part of the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate.Traditionally, for scientific purposes, the fault has been ... 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