BlackBerry Saw the iPhone Coming. It Bet on the Keyboard.

BlackBerry's best year ever came four years after the iPhone, and its leaders had called the iPhone's flaws correctly. So why did the BlackBerry downfall happen anyway? The answer is who picks the phone. From RIM's filings and the people in the room: the four objections RIM raised against the iPhone in 2007 and why each was true, the three chances to change course (Storm, QNX, BBM everywhere), and how a record year hid a game already lost. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 The Best Year Ever 00:40 Built for the IT Department 03:24 Everything They Got Right 07:54 Three Chances to Turn 10:59 The Record-Year Paradox 13:31 Running Out of Time 15:43 Who Picks the Phone 📚 Sources 1. Losing the Signal, J. McNish and S. Silcoff (2015); WSJ excerpt: https://macdailynews.com/2015/05/22/l... 2. The Globe and Mail, How BlackBerry blew it, Sep 27, 2013: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor... 3. Reuters via MacTech, Feb 12, 2007: https://www.mactech.com/2007/02/12/ri... 4. RIM/BlackBerry annual results and filings, SEC EDGAR: https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-ed... 5. Computerworld, RIM chases consumers, Sep 24, 2009: https://www.computerworld.com/article... 6. comScore US share, Dec 2009: https://www.comscore.com/Insights/Pre... 7. comScore US share, Dec 2011: https://www.comscore.com/Insights/Pre... ▶️ Watch next: Kodak invented the digital camera. Then it did the math.    • Kodak Invented the Digital Camera. Then It...   This video is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 🎵 Music: Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4 (Chopin), performed by Jeannette Fang, via Musopen. Public Domain Mark 1.0. 🖼️ Image credits (Commons/Flickr). CC BY 2.0: Mike Babcock (Android phones); Rob DiCaterino (Line at Apple Store in NYC); nan palmero (Jim Balsillie 1 and 2, Mike Lazaridis); AtelMedia Technologies (Jim Balsillie); Derek Hatfield (BlackBerry Curve); closari (BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha); IN 30 MINUTES Guides (BlackBerry email on the BB 8330); nSeika (BlackBerry launch event); Josh Hallett (BlackBerry Pearl); WEi WEi (BlackBerry Priv, Passport and Classic); Kārlis Dambrāns (BlackBerry Q10); aaltonen (BlackBerry Storm); Enrique Dans (BlackBerry Torch; BlackBerry Z10; Playing with the PlayBook); CLender (Cell Tower at Sundown); theogeo (behold, the crackberry); RatRanch (Crackberry Thumbs); Maurizio Pesce (Stephen Elop); Jitze Couperus (Facebook HQ, Menlo Park); Matt Zimmerman (iPhone 2g surgery); opusbei (iPhone and BlackBerry 8800); Blake Patterson (Steve Jobs presents iPhone); textlad (Mike Lazaridis); Sean MacEntee (mac mini); Christine und Hagen Graf (MWC 2011); ColumbusCameraOp (my set up at work); Mike Reyher (NOC-Architel); Alan Levine (NOC-IUPUI); Nicolas Nova (Mobile Hut, Paris 2008); The Conmunity (CES 2012 QNX Porsche); Carlos Varela (Various smartphones); Billie Grace Ward (NYCS smartphones); garryknight (Texting in the Rain); Infrogmation (TV set in living room); Consumerist Dot Com (Verizon Wireless store banner); White House/Pete Souza (Phones in the West Wing); Francisco Gonzalez (Tickers). CC BY-SA 2.0: William Hook (Apple Store Birmingham, iPhone 4 launch); liewcf (BlackBerry Bold in hand; BlackBerry Storm); البصراوي (BlackBerry Box); Luca Viscardi (BlackBerry PlayBook); Al Jazeera English (Checking email); arvindgrover (Motorola Droid ad); cellanr (Thorsten Heins 2012); William J Sisti (The Line); barnoid (Mobile Lineage); eirikso (Nokia N95 and iPhone); gloom (RIM hq). CC BY-SA 2.5: Metrónomo (BlackBerry Bold 9000). CC BY-SA 3.0: Mpt-matthew (iPhone 3GS battery); Kernow Skies (Phone mast); Tjalexforever (Nokia E66 and BlackBerry); Pöllö and Villeke (Nokia headquarters); Wladyslaw (Toronto Stock Exchange); Sampsonchen (University of Waterloo); Anthony92931 (Verizon Wireless store). CC BY-SA 4.0: Kt38138 (BlackBerry 8820, Bold 9900, Classic); Michael Pereira (BlackBerry Waterloo campus); Yves Lepage (Thorsten Heins 2013); ArnoldReinhold (Macworld 2007); Helar Lukats (WhatsApp texting). CC BY 4.0: Jarek Tuszyński (BlackBerry RIM 957); P2u111 (BlackBerry Bold 9900); Larry D. Moore (Treadmill). Public domain: White House, US Navy, CC0 works on Commons. Public records: SEC EDGAR filings. Charts and headline cards: our own, from the sources above. Shown for commentary: Apple Newsroom, The New York Times (Wayback Machine), Macworld, BGR, BusinessTech. Narration created with AI tools. #BlackBerry #iPhone #BusinessHistory