Answer 1:

BlackBerry was no doubt a very successful or rather a leading brand in the realm of qwerty
phones , it saw a rise or success in the year 2000’s due to its introduction of a highly secure
messaging network which is the BBM , however it did not actually do a lot much more after
significant success in the market. To highlight some points , BlackBerry when it was launched
was a very expensive phone for a lot of people. The introduction of BlackBerry in developed
countries was a hit however it could’ve done a lot in the emerging countries which it failed to do.
The expensivity of the phone was the main concern , BlackBerry should’ve adapted to the
market conditions by lowering the prices on their models in the emerging countries especially
Asia because it was an upcoming bigger market for BlackBerry , if we look at it from the
perspective of the year 2000’s , its phones were a hit no matter what but price was a constraint , it
could’ve lowered the prices in the Asian market rather than sitting on the idea of profits but
focusing on reaching the clientele in these emerging countries. On the other hand while
BlackBerry was not considering the introduction of smartphones which its rival apple was
working on , this is the beauty of innovation if we don’t think and spend on research then we
don’t exactly help the company’s success. BlackBerry didn’t pay any heed to apples innovation
of the upcoming smartphones rather it continued to serve the elite because only the crème de la
crème could afford it therefore reducing its lifespan in the Asian markets , whereas the Chinese
were also inventing smartphones with a price tag of $130 which was not only cheap but an eye
candy for the market. As of now we agree that the whole world looks for innovations , something
which will stand out and will also be in their price range. Then came apple with its I phone
supporting 2g with a price tag of $499 in 2007 , while the BlackBerry charm 7100 series a
QWERTY phone launched in 2004 was priced roughly around $249 with no smartphone like
features and less specifications than compared to that of apple in 2007 which included a
touchscreen and a very futuristic design. Thus , BlackBerry could’ve adapted to the market
which was thirsty for innovations in both the developed countries and the emerging ones with a
simple approach of catering to the local needs of the particular area and also spending more on
research and generating ideas that could’ve launched its name further in the whole world. If I go
on talking about it , it will be an endless debate that what BlackBerry could’ve done to adapt to
the market, but price and lack of innovation was BlackBerrys mistake and it could’ve adapted to
the market by certainly giving these two more importance rather than dwelling on sales and
catering the North American needs more and not giving importance to the other emerging
countries as well.

Answer 2:
BlackBerry’s initial focus was on secure email services and typing on a keyboard-like
experience, which made it a favourite among business professionals. The small market segment
BlackBerry that catered to started feeling like it was starting to feel outdated, while on the other
hand, Apple and Samsung started innovating and brought out touch-screen smartphones that had
apps and games on them. For example, Apple had its own email service and messaging service
called I-Message; on the other hand, Samsung collaborated with Google and Android to launch a
series of new smartphones that had e-mailing apps like Gmail. BlackBerry was slow to adapt to
the new emerging market of smartphones, and they did not understand what their customers
wanted. BlackBerry devices were also highly priced in front of their competitors, who were
selling their smartphones at a much cheaper and more consumer-friendly price. Also, the newer
generation wanted smartphones that could do most of their work with the press of a button, but
BlackBerry’s old technology with the same QWERTY keyboard design did not fascinate and
surprise its customers enough to make them buy its products. BlackBerry’s products slowly
declined the craze people once had for them, and BlackBerry tried to catch up with Apple and
Samsung by releasing touchscreen devices, for example, the BlackBerry Storm, but it was too
late for them as their devices failed to gain consumers attention. If I had been Blackberry, the
first time I would see these new companies emerging with new technology, I would have taken a
year to research and develop a product that fit the market needs as well as consumer
expectations. I would also start collaborating with Google and Android to make the user interface
as simple as possible for my consumers.

Answer 3:

BlackBerry faced legal and political backlash in different markets, which made it difficult for
them to operate in global markets. BlackBerry’s main advantage that the users appreciated was
that their data was private and encrypted. This was not liked by the governments of different
countries because they wanted to gain access to this data for national security purposes and also
so that law enforcement bodies could access this information. These demands were new
challenges that BlackBerry had to face in regards to the commitments it made to its customers
about user privacy and security. They also faced patent disputes with a company named NTP
Inc. and were sued, which in the end impacted heavily on their sales.

If I were BlackBerry, to avoid political backlash from governments, I would send certain high-
ranking BlackBerry officials to their countries and set up an office there so that if the
government wanted to check the data of its customers, they could rely on these officials to go
through all the user data, and if they found something inappropriate, they could inform the
government officials to take action. This way, the users data would have been secure from the
government in the hands of BlackBerry officials, and the customers wouldn’t have to be insecure
about the government having all their data. It would be like striking two birds with one stone.
Another way of doing this is by introducing a new product that is catered to that particular
market and follows the rules and regulations of that country. This is the way I would have
navigated BlackBerry among legal and political challenges.

Answer 4:
Seeing the decreasing market share of Blackberry phones to Apple and Samsung, Blackberry
could send their market analyst to various high-demand appliance stores on a monthly basis in
order to analyse how consumers were making decisions regarding the various products that were
available to them. With the assistance of this analysis, Blackberry could make adjustments to its
product in order to make it the best market fit. In addition, Blackberry could have sent its own
trained sales professionals to many different stores where the phone was offered for purchase.
The company could set sales targets for these sales representatives along with incentives. The
salesperson with hands-on experience with the end consumer could then give feedback to
Blackberry about the challenges he faced while selling the product to the customer, as well as the
questions and concerns that the customer had regarding the electronic device. With this data,
Blackberry could spend some money on research and development and innovate according to
changing market trends. Blackberry had one of the greatest security systems in its phones; the
firm could use it as a unique selling proposition and promote it so that customers were aware of
it and high-net-worth individuals, especially those for whom data is the most essential factor,
would be interested in purchasing the product. Blackberry could also give customers discounts
and coupons for its accessories and special discounts during holidays to attract customers.