INDIVIDUAL PRODUCT/SERVICE ANALYSIS
GCHAWLA
MKT 555 – SECTION 340
JUNE 9, 2010

I recently purchased a Research in Motion’s (RIM) Blackberry Curve 8900. RIM has a commanding 56% share of the $12 billion U.S. smart phone market, and its sales are still accelerating. In fact, according to industry tracker IDC, the bestselling smart phone in the U.S. so far this year by units is not the iPhone but the BlackBerry Curve. The Curve’s competitors include the Apple iPhone and the Motorola Android smart phone. Most people think of Apple as RIM's biggest threat. While that may be true, there is probably no single event that has done more for RIM's business than the iPhone launch. It was Apple that convinced consumers that they could enjoy the ease and power of a desktop in a handheld device, thus opening a vast new market. Overnight the smart phone became, by popular demand, a consumer device. Since the iPhone's introduction in June 2007, BlackBerry quarterly sales have more than tripled, from $1.1 billion to $3.4 billion. Three of the five top-selling mobile phones in the U.S. are now BlackBerrys. Blackberry uses a demographic segmentation approach. Traditionally, Blackberry phones have been targeted to business professionals only. They were not priced or developed for the every day cellular user. The Blackberry Curve 8900 is still primarily targeted to the business professional. The phone comes preloaded with the mobile version of Microsoft Office and now gives the ability to edit documents and power points directly on your cell phone. Blackberry also targets the business professional with wireless connectivity ability on the go for faster paced Internet connections when the user needs it most. The Blackberry target market is mostly middle aged business men who specifically get the blackberry for their business work, because of the facts that Blackberry’s main features and applications are meant for business uses. The type of people who get Blackberry’s are mostly middle aged men between the ages of 25-40 these are the preferred target market for Blackberry because of the uses of the phone. The people who live in North America are the main users of the Blackberry and even most parts of Europe and Asia where the popularity for Blackberry’s is high. People who usually get Blackberry’s, their lifestyles are usually owners of business’s or people who work for corporate companies. Some companies these days even go out and buy a bunch of Blackberry’s for their in work uses and to give to their employees to use as a work phone because of their compatibility to business employees. Blackberry has also made a push with the younger generation capturing style and function. The 8900 includes an auto focus 3.2 megapixel camera that doubles as a camcorder in an effort to capture the social crowd. Along with a camera, Blackberry has also preloaded a series of games and applications such as Facebook that is targeted directly to the young and social group. RIM has also launched a new software store called Blackberry App World with hundreds of applications that target people of every sort. Blackberry inspires extreme loyalty and interest among consumers worldwide. BlackBerry is now almost a synonym for wireless email and is considered a lifestyle for its owners, showing that it’s a sign of social class. It’s wide range of prices and phones also provide the opportunity for income segmentation. For example, the Blackberry Curve 8350 can cost up to $149.99 while the Blackberry Bold 9700 will cost a consumer $449.99. The consumer's expectations about what smart phones should provide are evolving rapidly. Mobile phone users increasingly want to access the web more than they want to make calls. They're gravitating toward Facebook and Twitter applications rather than long e-mails. And they want applications that let you check the weather, play games, and even balance your checkbook. Apple now boasts some 65,000 choices in its App Store that range from the practical to the absurd such as the Sheep Launcher. The new BlackBerry app store, by contrast, which launched only in April 2009, offers just 2,000 practical apps. The wide variety of Blackberry phones are offered by all wireless carriers, whereas the iPhone is currently contracted with only AT&T and the Droid phones with Verizon. Rather than restricting itself to one carrier, Blackberry partners with carriers to make individualized products. It produces numerous versions of its seven basic handsets. And because Blackberry works with every major carrier, consumers are able to buy a subsidized BlackBerry no matter what their plan. The Blackberry Curve 8900 has positioned itself as a market leader for business professionals looking for a high quality, sleek looking phone that’s designed for e-mail, documents and presentations on the go. It’s an image that’s branded into the heads of the consumer market. When they think of a Blackberry user, they think of a business professional on a plane, traveling to a meeting in a nice suit and reviewing his or her presentation moments before take off. As a personal user of the Blackberry Curve 8900, I required a smart phone for my occupation which requires me to constantly travel and carry out presentations. The Blackberry Curve easily allows me to edit word documents and power point presentations, and also connects me to company e-mail on the go. This phone also helps me connect to my friends and family overseas. The Blackberry Messenger (BBM) application let’s you chat, and share pictures and video with anybody that has the same application regardless of their location in the world. Additionally, the size of the phone and the style make it attractive. At 6’4”, with big hands, the iPhone and Droid smart phones require me to use their touch screen phones which cause countless typing errors. The Blackberry Curve has a wide QWERTY keyboard that expedites the time it takes me to type an e-mail without many errors. As an extremely satisfied consumer, when the time comes for a new phone and a contract, I will be looking to the Blackberry market for an answer.