“We compete in handheld wireless devices.” If so, they will see the BlackBerry as competing against products such as the Palm Pilot, Handspring’s Treo, Sony’s Clié, mobile telephone handsets made by Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung, and Microsoft Pocket-PC-based devices such as Compaq’s I-Paq and Hewlett-Packard’s Jordana.
I will venture a guess that keyboards play a major role in a consumer’s decision to purchase a mobile device. I used Blackberry phones because of:
1. The ergonomic feel of the keyboards on the mobile device - I used Sony Ericsson’s P990 prior. It was easier to type on the Blackberry even though it was cheaper.
2. The network effect of the fully encrypted BlackBerry Messenger and that elusive BB PIN which has become the hallmark blue bubble on iOS devices.
The design and precision of the iPhone’s touchscreen in concert with the iOS operating system just makes the usability of an iPhone much better. The closed system, it is argued, makes Apple ensure that this remains true. An iOS device hardly ever seems clunky to use.
Oh, and a great camera. #iphonography - certainly helped that they had the iPod, which created the brand equity that they leveraged. Apple had come to be known for great ‘cool’ design on portable consumer devices. For some people, the iPhone became a super iPod. They continue to leverage that brand equity on everything that they build today.
