For the past few years, and now ever more intensely, RIM finds itself fighting to ‎stay relevant. RIM has been losing ground to its competitors that not long ago ‎introduced their smart phones and tablets to the world and since then have ‎been gaining market share.‎
RIM’s response seems less based on executing to its plan, and more on ‎responding to ever more demanding market pressures.  It is beginning to look ‎like a losing battle, especially when RIM’s rivals keep hammering with new ‎surprises and upgraded devices as soon as it seems that RIM is finally catching ‎up. The most recent products, the Blackberry Torch and the Playbook, are ‎examples where RIM has been trying to give customers the right products, but ‎they introduced little that was new.  Strategically, RIM is now fighting for ‎developers to develop Apps for its smartphones, but App developers chase ‎market share leaders because it gives them better revenues.  Losing developers ‎will be a big issue.  ‎
RIM’s latest move, laying off 2000 employees, will buy some time. RIM’s top ‎executives have dismissed long-term concerns about the smart-phone maker’s ‎future, claiming the company was simply going through a difficult “transition ‎period” as it shifts from traditional BlackBerrys to a more powerful generation of ‎high-end phones. They do indeed have an ace up their sleeve.   They are ‎working on, and planning to release, an upgraded product portfolio based on ‎the very powerful QNX operating system.  It’s definitely a better platform, but ‎whether it will be a better phone is a different question.  Will it be enough? Is it ‎the right cure? Can RIM make it and regain power? We will have to wait and see.‎