Blackberry going the palm way

Have always loved Research in Motion and their reliable handsets but I'm afraid it will soon head the palm way. Been a blackberry user since 2004 and owned various handsets like the pearl, curve, bold and pearl 3G. While the hardware has always been some sort of a weak point, I am extremely disappointed by some of their current handsets like the torch and the storm 2. I mean what is the world is the testing division of Research in Motion thinking? The hands on experience with these devices is not even close to the experience that an iPhone or an android smartphone like the Nexus S provides. Hence the market domination by android and the iOS devices. Its a shame really since Research in Motion had the advantage of being in the game for such a long time. They just refused to learn like Motorola, Samsung or LG did.

Table of Worldwide sales in the 2Q of 2011

Not too long ago, Research in Motion were responsible for about 1/8th of the global phone sales. In the 2Q of 2011 however, its a whole another picture. They sold about 12.5 Million units which amounts to about 3% of the global market share and they are behind the corporation ZTE. The story and the statistics sound quite familiar to what Palm faced before it eventually got bought over by HP.

Personally, it pains me to see RIM this way and I sincerely hope than they make some sort of a revival but as Walt Mossberg aptly stated Research in Motion as a smart phone manufacturer is about 4 years and 400,000 apps too late.