RIM chief: market unclear for tablets, touch-only phones [U]
(Updated with clearer remarks) RIM's co-chief Mike Lazaridis downplayed many of Apple's efforts today in a keynote at the TD Newcrest technology conference in Toronto. The executive was concerned that there wasn't necessarily …
Context & Ripple Effects
Speaking at the TD Newcrest technology conference in Toronto, RIM co-chief Mike Lazaridis argued the market for tablets and touch-only phones was unclear — a direct jab delivered during a week when Apple set the agenda: Steve Jobs [[a:none|unveiled iAd]] at the iPhone OS 4 preview, and iFixit's teardown showed the refreshed 15-inch MacBook Pro was new mainly inside, with Intel Core i5 and i7 chips. Reuters carried the same remarks under a different frame — video traffic as the big challenge to networks — showing the story travelled on both the competitive and infrastructure angles.
The skepticism landed against mixed evidence: the iPad was drawing confirmed reports of networking and connectivity problems, giving doubters material, while a rumor — flagged as unconfirmed by multiple carrier sources — held that AT&T would impose a June vacation blackout pointing at a new iPhone. Whether RIM treats post-keyboard devices as a durable category or a passing shape is now an explicit public position, not just a product roadmap question.
First-order effects
- Apple holds the initiative on both fronts Lazaridis questioned — a tablet already shipping (despite its confirmed connectivity complaints) and an advertising platform in iAd pitched as transformative for mobile — while RIM's co-chief offers public doubt instead of a competing device.
- Carriers and enterprise buyers hear two conflicting signals at once: RIM questioning touch-only demand even as unconfirmed AT&T blackout chatter builds anticipation for Apple's next hardware cycle.
Second-order effects
- Developers weighing iAd's revenue pitch have one fewer counterweight if RIM stays out of tablets, concentrating ecosystem investment further around Apple and leaving RIM dependent on keyboard-centric BlackBerry demand.
- If the AT&T blackout rumor proves tied to an iPhone refresh, carrier marketing spend clusters around Apple through the summer, raising RIM's cost of staying visible in the conversation.
Third-order effects
- Disputing whether a category exists — rather than shipping into it — turns executive skepticism itself into a competitive variable; if touch-only devices keep selling despite the doubt, RIM faces pressure either to reverse its stated position or let Apple define the segment unopposed.
- A pattern of incumbents publicly minimizing rival categories would make category legitimacy, not just specs or pricing, the recurring battleground of the smartphone era.
The trend: Mobile computing's center of gravity is shifting toward touch-first consumer devices, forcing keyboard-era incumbents like RIM to argue publicly over whether the new categories are real rather than compete inside them.