Filed under: Products and services, Apple Inc (AAPL), Marketing and advertising, Research in Motion (RIMM)
When Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) hit the scene a few years ago, not that many people were interested in accessing work and personal email on the go from a handheld device. But, the company changed the paradigm of wireless email by allowing customers to be instantly notified of incoming email messages regardless of where they were: on the subway, on vacation (ehh), or even in a meeting.
Since then, companies have realized that when it comes to wireless communications, one of the killer apps (if not the killer app) might not be voice calls, but email wireless access without the need to lug a laptop everywhere. RIM has thus captured the hearts and minds of millions of customers with its BlackBerry products (often called “CrackBerry” since they cause portable email addiction). It has released a multitude of cellphone/email handsets for every major U.S. wireless carrier recently, and has even shifted away from just business customers to consumer-targeted devices with cameras and MP3 playing capability onboard. What can RIM do for a second act? Try to sell products directly to consumers instead of relying entirely on wireless company sales?
RIM has recently partnered with U.S. cellphone retail outlet Wireless Giant to open a small store in a Detroit suburb in what could be the begin to what Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has done, and done well: sell products directly from retail stores. However, signaling to wireless companies that you’re willing to bypass them and sell directly to consumers can sometimes inflame executive egos. Wireless carriers depend on those long-term contracts to actually make money, you see. But, in this case, RIM will be selling its phones — many models, to be exact — to work with networks such as AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless. That ought to cause any apprehension to disperse from the wireless telecom companies. At least, for now.
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