Innovation and New Product Development Case Study

Blackberry: Wired for Growth

OR

Abstract:
Wireless communication technology grew rapidly during the 1990s. Towards the end of the decade, a need was felt to develop a technology that combined the benefits of cellular phones and email. Canadian company ‘Research in Motion’ developed the ‘Blackberry’ handheld device to cater to the increasing demand for mobile email applications. The innovative combination of voice and email services on a single device contributed to the massive popularity of Blackberry. But criticism on the device’s addictive nature and the emergence of products that supported a variety of platforms posed a challenge to Blackberry’s dominance in the mobile email market.

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To discuss about the market driven business model of RIM
• To highlight the problems of having a proprietary system in a market increasingly dominated by open standards and solutions.

Keywords : Wireless email; Mobile email; Blackberry; Research in Motion; RIM; Good Technology; Vodafone; Innovation Management Case Study; Visto; Handled devices; Wireless communication; Mobile messaging systems; Non-voice mobile services; SEVEN

Contents:

• Mobile Email – The Evolution
• The Birth of BlackBerry
• The BlackBerry Boom
• The 'Crackberry' Critique
• The Road Beyond