According to the website, BGR, RIM is developing a phone that will address the wants of its customers. Before continuing, two things should be noted.

One. Blogging based on rumours (leaks) does lead lower the quality of a blog entry. Still, talk of RIM’s development on a phone that addresses the wish list of its customers have circulated for months, and therefore requires discussion. In addition, this story will/will not be confirmed at WES next week.

Rumored Blackberry 9670

There is another rumour circulating about a RIM Slider. The difference between the 9670 and the Slider might only be physical (the 9670 being a flip phone).

Two.
Two. Never listen to what the customer wants, listen for what they need. Consider that:

* You know what your target customers are to ensure that you do not incorporate ideas of people who you will never be able to please

* You understand the deficiencies in your product which are source of the feedback, rather than directly respond to recommendations

This is a point I learned in my blog readings from the owner of kaChing.com.

The specifications for the Blackberry 9670 is rumoured to have these specifications:

  • QWERTY Flip
  • BlackBerry OS 6.0
  • 480 x 360 display
  • WiFi
  • 5 megapixel camera
  • Optical pad
  • CDMA

There are generally two input designs for Smartphones: touch screen and QWERTY keyboard. Much like the argument for Mac vs PC cannot be won, the argument of touch screen vs QWERTY will not likely lead to any resolution. Why? It’s about personal taste.

RIM parlayed to touch screen with the Storm/Storm2. RIM essentially developed a product it thought customers wanted. The problem is that it tried too much to be something it was not: an iPhone.

Storm2 was improved, by giving the user a better touch screen keyboard with user-feedback, but sales remain weak for this product.

Analysis:

The Smartphone market is competitive. Product development cycles are short. It is not like the “good old days” – also marked by the dominance of Motorola’s RAZR around 2005.

The iPhone and even RIM’s blackberry dominate this market, yet Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung are trying to catch up.

This leaves the leaders vulnerable to losing market share.

RIM’s QWERTY-based line-up is successful, but the company is under pressure not only to hold on to its own customers, but to win over fans of the iPhone and other users of touch screen-based devices.

Conclusion:

RIM should not read nor address the wish list of its customers or potential customers as characterized above.

RIM needs to accept that a smart phone can only be a touch screen or a QWERTY, and that there are drawbacks in each. RIM is trying to develop a product that promises to be the “best of both worlds.” Ultimately, RIM will fail in addressing all consumers by trying to be too much.

For example, consumers want a portable, small device, but realize the compromise would be a keyboard much like the RIM Pearl.

Conversely, consumers want a QWERTY input, but realize the compromise would be a bigger phone.

The issue for RIM is not phone design: it is the operating system and the applications on the Blackberry OS. The OS is in serious need of an upgrade, and the company needs to have a business model that encourages more blackberry applications to be developed.