Monday Note

For years, the Blackberry was the tool of choice for the executive on the move obsessive with the idea of staying in touch. Results are stunning: last year, Research in Motion (RIM) added 6.5m Blackberry users. The device is great, with features polished thanks to many iterations and a truly innovation oriented company (read this story in Business Week).

The Blackberry is stable, robust. It has a great push-mail system, and even a private, incredibly fast, network for short messaging (using the PIN number of each device). Okay, speaking of design, its neither Raymond Loewy or Jonathan Ives (Apple’s Michelangelo). But it works. Hence the market share : it peaked at around 60% of the smartphone market back in 2005. Then, Windows Mobile came: the same hassles than your desktop, but in your pocket (sorry, I can’t help it). Fine. Mid-2006, Windows Mobile market share was approaching 40%. Then came the iPhone. Apple’s pie in smartphone is cruising slightly below the 30%, but growing fast. Especially when it is adding features targeted to the office population. Who will eat whom ? Some answers in this story in the New York Times.

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