Thought: Should RIM Jump Ship to Windows Phone?

The industry has begun to notice a few signs of trouble recently for Research In Motion, the company behind BlackBerry smartphones. Despite being among one of the largest global market share holders in the industry, innovation has stalled in their product line for a few years now. RIM has attempted to break this pattern by introducing v6.0 of their OS but the Torch, its flagship device, was largely panned by critics and ignored by consumers. Most recently the company released their first foray into tablets with the Playbook, but despite a promising outlook for the touch-based QNX platform the tablet uses, the product still isn't as good as it should be. Not only does RIM have some serious product issues, but their executives have begun to feel the heat from the public. During a recent interview with the BBC, founder and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis abruptly left, claiming that the questions being asked were unfair and that RIM's admittedly high numbers spoke for itself.

Any of that sound a little familiar? Yes, RIM is starting to sound a lot like Nokia and could be facing a serious change in the near future unless their products are significantly overhauled. Just like Nokia, it's hard not to imagine the company seriously considering other platform options at this point in the game. Well, why not Windows Phone 7? The proposition sounds like wishful thinking, but there are some reasons it could pan out. For one, plenty of manufacturers like Samsung and HTC have shown that handling multiple platforms on their devices isn't very difficult and RIM would only have to worry about the hardware part of the equation, which is something they already do very well (despite their outdated designs). For another, RIM wouldn't even have to invest as heavily with Microsoft as Nokia did--instead they could take the cautious approach and only release a few 'test' devices to see how they fare with the public. There is a reason upstart OEMs in the industry are avoiding Android and that's because it requires a significant amount of investment to stay competitive and the market is currently saturated with well-established brands.

RIM could also bring over their Messaging services especially BBM, the sole reason their operating system is still relevant, to those phones which would guarantee sales for those looking for a more touch-friendly OS but still live and die by the popular IM client. Microsoft's Chassis 2 specifications (unveiled at last year's MIX '10) was designed to take on the classic BlackBerry form factor with a vertical QWERTY keyboard and a touchscreen up top. RIM could spearhead development of this Chassis and thus preserve its signature style while still appealing to their users looking for a newer platform.

There is little doubt that RIM is as much the 800-pound gorilla as Nokia is when it comes to the mobile industry, but without any real effort at innovation the company could suffer the slow death Nokia just barely avoided. Microsoft may be the way out.