RIM is now BlackBerry; launches BlackBerry10

New York, Jan 30 (PTI) Research in Motion (RIM), known for its BlackBerry brand of mobile devices, today re-christened itself as ''BlackBerry'' and launched its much- awaited operating system in an attempt to make a comeback in the global smartphone market.

Looking at the new road ahead for the company that had pioneered email on the go, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins said the company was undertaking a "journey of transformation of business and brand".

Speaking at the launch in New York, Heins said, "We have definitely been on a journey of transformation, a journey to not only transform our business and our brand, but one which I truly believe will transform mobile communications into true mobile computing."
BlackBerry unveiled its new identity and the new operating system across multiple cities -- New Delhi, London, Paris, Johannesburg, Toronto, Jakarta and Dubai.

He added the company has "re-designed and re-engineered" its products and "re-invented" the company to reflect one consistent brand.

The company also announced the launch of two devices -- Z10 and Q10 -- powered by the new BlackBerry 10 operating system, which will compete with Apple''s iPhone and those based on Google''s Android operating system.

Once a leader in the smartphone category, RIM steadily lost market share as iPhones and Android-powered devices gained popularity across the world.

RIM''s stocks also took a beating, declining close to 72 per cent from over USD 61 apiece in January 2010 to USD 17.54 on January 25, 2012. It had fallen to as low as USD 6.30 in September 2012.

In July-September period of 2012, Android smartphones had a market share of 72.4 per cent, while Apple''s iOS market share stood at 13.9 per cent compared to RIM''s share of 5.3 per cent.

"BlackBerry 10 launch is definitely an important one for the company. They have created a lot of buzz around the platform with their marketing activities, done a lot of customer shows and revamped their application store.

"We''ll have to wait and watch how the market responds to it," IDC Principal Analysts Sanchit Vir Gogia told PTI.

BlackBerry enthusiasts in India would, however, have to wait for sometime to grab the new devices.

Unlike most other markets, BlackBerry is popular in India, especially among youth. As per CyberMedia Research, RIM''s market share in Indian smartphone market stood at 12.1 per cent during January-June 2012 period. .