RIM CEO considered Android switch

August 4th, 2012, 23:36 Posted By: wraggster

The company's CEO Thorsten Heins has admitted that RIM seriously considered a switch to the Android operating system.
Heins made the admission during an interview with the Telegraph, during which he confirmed that RIM considered jumping ship to Android, before making its decision to move forward with Blackberry 10.
“We took the conscious decision not to go Android,” Heins told the Telegraph.
He continued: ”If you look at other suppliers’ ability to differentiate, there’s very little wiggle room. We looked at it seriously — but if you understand what the promise of BlackBerry is to its user base it’s all about getting stuff done. Games, media, we have to be good at it but we have to support those guys who are ahead of the game.
This was not Heins' only confession during the interview, admitting that RIM simply cannot keep up with Apple and Samsung when producing its devices.
Whilst previously refusing to allow other manufactures to produce Blackberry 10 devices, the RIM CEO stated that it may become a necessity to ensure the company's survival.
“We don’t have the economy of scale to compete against the guys who crank out 60 handsets a year,” Heins said.
“We have to differentiate and have a focused platform. To deliver BB10 we may need to look at licensing it to someone who can do this at a way better cost proposition than I can do it. There’s different options we could do that we’re currently investigating.”
Whilst this may sound like a simple solution, it may prove more difficult for RIM than it initially anticipates.
Allowing other companies to produce and license Blackberry 10 products would mean they would have to pay for it.
In the same market where manufacturer's already pay Microsoft to produce devices under the Windows Phone flagship, and use Google's Android OS for fee, it's a plan that sounds easier said than done.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...-switch/028854

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