The ascent and collapse of BlackBerry

1984. Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin, two more obscure student technician from the University of Waterloo and Windsor, create their own company and called its Research In Motion (RIM). Some years they swam in obscurity, but not having a clear vision of the path of development, the aim has been found. Revolutionary technology - simple, safe and effective device by which any employee of any company can send and receive e-mail while away from the office. Thus was born the BlackBerry.

RIM has grown into one of the most expensive IT-companies in the world and BlackBerry have become indispensable accessories leaders, heads of state and Hollywood celebrities - have not yet reached the iPhone and Android and does not spoil everything fun. In 2013, the company took the name of its most successful product, but it did not help. Business still goes very badly, and in November, BlackBerry share price was fixed at $ 6. This is the lowest figure for the last 15 years.

Within two months edition of Bloomberg Businessweek representatives actively communicated with dozens of current and former employees BlackBerry, as well as with suppliers and partners of the company. We present you with a translation result of their work - the story of the birth and BlackBerry sunset.

Gary Mousseau, eighth RIM employee, software developers and managers working in the company from 1991 to 2007:

I first met Mike Lazaridis during the interview. Mike - a very good speaker and "messenger technology." His speech was so convincing that I accepted a job at RIM in spite of the fact that here I will pay 13% less. I went to work in 1991. My first task was to build a work desk. The place was not at all. I was seated in the waiting room next to the fax machine. In fact, I was the guy who takes the package. I sat in front of a fax machine, and it was not fun. The room was very cramped and crowded.

In 1992, Lazaridis, Chief Executive Officer, hires Jim Balsillie, a graduate of Harvard Business School, to help manage the cash-strapped businesses. Balsillie lays their home and invested in the company $ 250,000 in exchange for a third of the shares. After that he became Co-Executive Director of RIM.

Lazaridis and Balsillie declined to be interviewed for the creation of the story.

Patrick Spence, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Sales and Marketing, has worked in the company from 1998 to 2012:

Jim different strategic thinking and ambition. You will not find a lot of Canadians with such ambitions.

Gary Mousseau:

We created all these wireless products, but in each of them lacked some Circuits for success. They were just interesting. Mike was an electrical engineer. It was his passion, his love. Ultimately, we decided to replace bulky modem that offers while IBM as a means of personal communication. She became the RIM 900 - a device in the form-factor "clamshell". Some affectionately call him a frog. We sold a lot of these devices.

Jim Estill, RIM board member from 1997 to 2010:

In those days, people did not have a clue as to what a "smartphone". There was not even the concept of a two-way pager data transmission. But our unit looked very cool. You dostaosh is, and all around just want to touch it, play around with it, see what it can do.

Gary Mousseau:

Mike, I and several other members were obsessed with the transfer of Exchange e-mail messages on the device on our belts. But we could not reply to these letters. One day, Mike came in and announced that he had decided to wind up all 30 software projects we have worked on. He said that we will solve the problem of two-way transmission mail.

RIM is published in 1997. Its shares start trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and even after two years on the stock exchange Nasdaq. Balsillie sets a "generally donut": any employee caught the conversation about the company's stock price, buys all the donuts. The following year, the company produces RIM 950 - a wireless device is equipped with a miniature QWERTY-keyboard.

Bruce Poon type, a Canadian entrepreneur, the founder of G Adventures:

I was in a group called the "Alliance of Innovators." Jim Balsillie went to us with the device in hand. It was like a blackberry: dark blue and with grooves in place of keys. "This is called the BlackBerry!» - he said. All eyes widened. The name seemed idiotic. At this time, the peak of the dotcom boom fell, and in Jim's dreams thanks to this device that people can receive mail on the move, anywhere. However, there were questions. Why someone might want to receive e-mail outside the office?

Canada at the time distinguished by the fact that the US took the idea and made the dotcom similar services in their own way. Bid.com - Canadian version of Ebay, JobShark as Monster.com and so on. They just receive funding and will work. And at the same time, there is Jim with a really revolutionary idea, in which the viability of all doubt.

Gary Mousseau:

About a week before the start of sales 950 RIM, Motorola releases 250 Page Writer. Visually - almost a complete clone of the development of RIM. We just do not crap. Oh my God! They are going to destroy our market! How could they? We have a leak? But they run it without any service. It was just a bunch of electronics. I think they thought that this device simply replace all other pagers.

From the first days of RIM focused on corporate clients, rather than ordinary consumers.

Gary Mousseau:

The marketing department has decided to launch a desktop redirector. Simply put, it is a method of transmitting messages and data from your computer to your mobile device. All you need to do - to install a small program on your computer and keep it running. That's all. Loads the program, and everything just works.

Patrick Spence:

About a week after the launch, we have received an unusual order. At this time, the buyer was Michael Dell. While we did not make much progress, and he learned about BlackBerry from the Web. I sent an email to him: "Hey, Michael, I saw that you did order. If you need some help, do not hesitate to ask me. " 30 seconds I got the answer: "Thank you, I'm super intrigued by this thing."

Jim Estill:

At first they were quite expensive, but ultimately they cost decreased. They have become indispensable. This is similar to the situation with the advent of the fax machine. You will definitely need at least one to live in the business.

Kevin Michaluk, founder of the news site CrackBerry.com:

BlackBerry was the favorite of the corporate world. If you have a BlackBerry - you are an important person. Smartphones are just such people. BlackBerry has become a status symbol. And yet he was the most intuitive means of communication. This flashing red color and quality to which dependence develops.

Chris Kay, Sales Manager and relations with operators working in the company from 2001 to 2009:

When I met with the technical director of a large company, he said about BlackBerry as a "digital character."

Patrick Spence:

We realized that hit the jackpot when we went to the agreement with AOL and Time Warner. Jerry Levin and Steve Case told how they actually carried out a deal with his BlackBerry on weekends. It was one of those moments when I was just like, hell, we were really part of the zeitgeist.

Andrew McLeod, the current Managing Director of the BlackBerry in the US and Canada:

At some point I saw the BlackBerry booth in a shopping center in Cyprus. It was a heavenly feeling.

Vincent Washington, a senior development manager, worked for the company from 2001 to 2011:

Everyone saw that we are on the path to something big. If we compare with the movie, this is the scene where they are cut all the road, heading to Vegas.

Despite the fact that the focus was placed on the corporate market, the brand has become a hit in the consumer sector. Oprah Winfrey announces BlackBerry «favorite thing" in 2003. By the end of 2004, the unit sold by 80 operators in 40 countries, and the number of subscribers reached 2 million.

Chris Kay:

In 2004 we began shipping in India. My activity has shifted towards celebrities devices supply of Bollywood. I was invited to a fashion week in Bombay, and I took a box clogged BlackBerry. A friend of mine is an editor at Vogue, she invited me in the VIP-section. And I drink champagne and eat strawberries and distribute BlackBerry celebrities around.

Jesse Boudreau, vice president of software development from 2004 to 2008:

In 2006 he published the BlackBerry Pearl in close-coupled design, with a wheel, with a very good voice quality. Since it is convenient to scroll through the contents of the screen, it can play video, and it even has a camera. Until that moment, Mike said that the camera in such a device - and the madness would be worthless, but suddenly BlackBerry becomes a strong player in the consumer market.

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