RIM has been struggling for years, ever since Apple introduced the iPhone and became a major player in a market the BlackBerry had had all to itself for nearly a decade. Then Google introduced the Android OS, and things got worse pretty quick.
Now, they’ve released their latest financial results, and things do not look good at all.
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Netflix, in a move that was controversial to the Internet and absolutely no one else, recently changed its subscriber plan: if you wanted both DVDs sent to your house and streaming, it would now cost a minimum of $16. There was a lot of wailing, teeth gnashing, and predictions that Netflix had just priced itself out of most people’s wallets, even though a DVD-only and streaming only plan were available at $8 each.
So, how did it work out?
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We all know that the next version of the iPhone is coming, and that it’ll probably be coming to Sprint. In fact, we’ve got quite a lot of evidence of both: Sprint equipment being installed near Apple stores, Sprint shushing its employees about the possibility of some sweet iPhone action, Apple order CDMA parts.
But, even if it isn’t true, the iPhone is definitely due for a refresher, and that appears to be coming fast and furious. But what will this golden ticket, er, master contain for features?
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Five years ago, Sprint was a dead company walking. Every quarter saw customers run to more reliable or cheaper services. It was freighted down by the Nextel network, which it couldn’t get rid of and was a massive financial drain. It was a joke.
Now, it’s become a scrappy fighter, and it’s finally getting the iPhone. What happened…and how did Sprint go from zero to hero?
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AT&T and T-Mobile announced earlier this year that they were planning to merge, as Deutsche Telekom, a worldwide wireless company, felt it couldn’t innovate or compete and was getting out of the market. Considering AT&T’s…ah…reputation for customer service and network stability, the news was not exactly greeted with praise.
Now it’s starting to look like that hostility is going to put an end to the merger for good.
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As you’ve probably heard, Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple, although he’ll still be working for the company. Unlike most people, we’re not mourning because this has been the de facto state of affairs for some time, although there is one thing we’ll miss: Steve Jobs making a product presentation exciting.
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Pretty much if you want to put out an application in this day and age, especially for anything mobile, you have to put out an iOS version. Apple pretty much controls the smartphone and the tablet computer market. Defying them is practically fiscal suicide. You’ve got to have deep pockets to defy the biggest company in the world.
You know, like being the biggest web store in the world. Or the biggest retailer.
Yes, the stock market is currently tanking thanks to political problems; yes, people are worried about a double-dip recession; yes, rioting in London is making people think the end times are upon us. But Apple is still the most valuable company in the world.
Not that it was unaffected: its stock price was dinged 1.46% amid the trading chaos. But everybody else, in every sector, got dinged worse, sometimes much worse.
This is pretty much contrary to what everyone insisted would happen. Apple was a luxury supplier. Apple didn’t provide necessities. Apple was going to fall and fall hard if the economy ever took a turn for the worse, and all the Chicken Littles (and PC fans) would be justified in insisting it was overvalued. Instead it’s stayed fairly consistent while everything else burns.
Consider what this means. Apple is bigger than food suppliers, bigger than oil suppliers, bigger than companies that turn out guns by the bushel. And they got that way not by selling what people need, but selling people what they want.
There isn’t a better, if perhaps a little disturbing, argument for Apple being the most important company of our time. Because, let’s face it, if this won’t ding their stock seriously, nothing will.
