Smartphone is now the winner in the tech market. The first smartphone BlackBerry was a giant name in the technology world ten years ago. But that phone is missing from the market. Blackberry was a phone whose rise and fall was so fast and furious that it is hard to imagine today. One can say it is impossible. This reality can be likened to being pushed straight to the moon by a rocket and then falling at the speed of a meteorite.
What happened to Blackberry that made the best-selling smartphone suddenly fall flat after incredible success? In the end, what is the reason they are forced to stop the production of smartphones? This question is unknown to many.
Blackberry’s journey began in Canada. The feature of this device was basically a modern (user-friendly) keyboard as well as the ability to exchange e-mails anytime from anywhere. It was a groundbreaking invention considering the time.
From 2008 to 2011, Blackberry launched several other smart phone models including ‘Blackberry Curve‘, ‘Blackberry Tor‘, ‘Blackberry Bold‘. In 2008 BlackBerry sold around 15 million units of phones worldwide. Blackberry’s popularity was at such a level that same year Blackberry’s highest stock price in history reached $147.55. By 2010, Blackberry sales exceeded 30 million units. BlackBerry’s revenue that year was $14.9 billion. In this way, BlackBerry has maintained a good position in the smartphone market for quite some time.
On the other hand, since the launch of the first iPhone in 2007, Apple has been bringing a new model of iPhone to the market every year. Also, companies like Motorola and HTC were gradually establishing themselves in the market with their Android phones. However, Blackberry was avoiding this change without taking it into consideration.
As a result, BlackBerry’s share fell from 20.7 percent in 2009 to 15 percent in 2010. In this way Blackberry gradually lost its market share. However, the last nail in Blackberry’s coffin was hammered by Apple’s iPhone 4 in 2011.
By the end of 2011, Apple surpassed BlackBerry in terms of revenue. Apple’s revenue that year was $108 billion. And BlackBerry’s revenue was only $19.9 billion. In 2012, BlackBerry’s market share fell to 5 percent. Then in 2013, Apple’s market share was 40 percent. On the other hand, with only 3 percent market share, BlackBerry moved to the sixth place.
In 2015, Blackberry brought their first Android phone ‘BlackBerry Priv’ to keep up with the times. But by then it was too late. After Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo had already taken over Blackberry’s business market.
After 2016 they didn’t produce any more phones. Finally, in February 2020, it was announced that no new BlackBerry phones would be produced. After August of that year, the production and sale of BlackBerry was completely stopped. And this is how the once hugely popular BlackBerry is lost from the market forever.
The rise and fall of BlackBerry can be roughly divided into three chapters. First, Blackberry has overtaken everyone in the race to dominate the smartphone industry. Second, the arrival of the iPhone in the technology market. Third, Blackberry lost its edge over time and fell behind everyone else.
Overconfidence or pride, like the Titanic, is believed to be the cause of BlackBerry’s downfall. A film has been made about the rise and fall of BlackBerry called ‘Losing the Signal’. But what happened to BlackBerry is neither the first nor the last in history. People’s tastes and needs are constantly changing. As a result, it is not uncommon for iPhone production to stop. It’s just a matter of waiting for another new brand to arrive.