Did you know that Blackberry was originally founded as Research in Motion company (RIM) by two engineering students, Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin from Canada?
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RIM initially focused on wireless data technology for the likes of Ericson and Intel, including the development of a two-way paging system.
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Finding a close resemblance between its buttons and strawberry seeds, along with black casing, the marketers at RIM named the phone Blackberry.
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​The shift in corporate culture and its need to make work accessible from anywhere, instantly made Blackberry, a darling for business leaders, setting the stage for RIM to introduce a more accessible handheld device like a mobile handset.
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​Breakthrough Product:​
a. From pagers to its trademark QWERTY keypad phones, it became a pioneer in bringing email services to handheld mobiles. ​
b. The introduction of the BlackBerry 7230 in 2002, with colour display and voice capabilities, marked a significant evolution.

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Business Strategy: BlackBerry excelled with its secure, efficient communication solutions, primarily targeting corporate and government sectors.
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​At its Peak, Blackberry reported revenues of $19.9 billion, in 2011, boasting an approximate market share of more than 31%

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In the US, the device was called “Crackberry”, which compared its excessive use by its owners to the addictiveness of crack cocaine.

Blackberry was almost irreplaceable until it wasn’t. ​
The possible time of fall can be documented as the introduction of touchscreen smartphones by Apple and its Android peers.
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a. BlackBerry's delay in embracing new technologies, like touchscreens and a robust app ecosystem, proved to be a major blow.
b. From the peak of 2011, BlackBerry's smartphone market share had fallen to less than 1%, in 2016, just in 5 years.

In recent years, BlackBerry has pivoted away from hardware to focus on software and services, particularly in cybersecurity and the Internet of Things (IoT). Though it still keeps the lights on, this new foray is nothing like its past glory.

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3 Mistakes that killed the brand:

• Stagnation Stinks: BlackBerry’s rise and fall signifies the importance of embracing new innovations and technologies.
• Don’t be a Dinosaur: If you think, you need to burn everything to the ground and rise again like a Phoenix, then do it, irrelevance is nothing but death by a thousand cuts
• Don’t put all your eggs in one basket: Over-reliance on a single product or market segment can be risky, as BlackBerry did initially with corporate clients.