By: Luc Lavers, Jess Pomeroy, George Kennedy, Matt Weir,
Letian Shan, Lu Wenyue
1
COMPANY PROFILE
Led by President and CEO Thorsten Heins
Research In Motion is a wireless equipment and telecommunications company that
is based in Canada.
The company was founded by Mike Lazaridis (University of Waterloo) and Douglas
Fregin (University of Windsor) in 1984.
Headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario.
Many offices around the world in North America, Asia, and Europe
PRODUCT LAUNCH
“GO PRO” launch
RIM went without a CMO from September-March 2011
Boulben stepped up to be RIM’s newest CMO
The Playbook launch was one of RIM’s worst
Adobe Flash was not enough for consumers
THE MARKETPLACE: DEMAND
Year
2011
(actual)
2012
(estimated)
2013
(estimated)
Units
70.9 million
117.1 million 165.9
million
261.4
million
% Growth
(From
previous
year)
N/A
65%
56%
42%
2016
(estimated)
THE MARKETPLACE: COMPETITORS
APPLE: IPAD
SAMSUNG: G ALAXY TAB
CEO - Tim Cook
CEO - Geesung Choi
Headquarters
Cupertino, California
Headquarters
Seoul, South Korea
Founded - 1976
Founded - 1969
Playbook
Samsung Galaxy
iPad
$179
$249.99
$329
1 gb Ram
592 mb Ram
512 mb Ram
LCD
LCD
LED
3.0 mp front
5.0 mp back
1080p video recording
1.3 mp front
3.0 mp back
Readers Hub
1.2 mp front
5.0 mp back
1080p video recording
Apps
Black and White
1 GB
RAM
16, 32, 64
GB Flash
0.94lb
1080p HD
video
7 inch display
1080p HDMI
output
Capacitive 4point multitouch screen
4G LTE
WIFI
2011
2010
Worldwide sales of Media Tablets to End Users by OS
2012
OS
2010
2011
2012
iOS
83.90%
68.70%
63.50%
Android(Samsung
Acer)
14.20%
19.90%
24.40%
MeeGo
0.60%
1.10%
1.20%
WebOS(HPpad)
0
4.00%
3.90%
QNX(Playbook)
0
5.60%
6.60%
Others
1.30%
0.60%
0.50%
THE BROADER ENVIRONMENT
ECONOMIC FORCES
DEMOGRAPHIC FORCES
The Playbook launched near
the end of the 2008
recession.
Original target market
business
When RIM cut the Playbooks
massive price, the sales
improved significantly.
The cheaper price helped
RIM sell their excess
supply of Playbooks.
Corporate vs. User Friendly
Bringing out the PLAY in
Playbook
New approach to advertising
for different target market
GOVERNMENT FORCES AND
SOCIAL/CULTURAL FORCES
Worldwide market share
Android
Market Share in Canada
SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths:
• Price of the Playbook
• Customer Loyalty
• Contract Manufacturing with Quanta
• Supports Adobe Flash
Weaknesses:
• Price to produce Playbook
• Loss of CMO mid launch
• Lowered prices due to lower quantity
demanded
• RIM sold their Playbooks at a loss
• Inexperienced in a new market
Opportunities:
• Re-launch the 4G LTE Playbook
• Add an LED screen
• Lower manufacturing costs
• Develop international market share
• Universalize the interface of the
Playbook
Threats:
• New tablets hitting the market
• Manufacturing contract runs out
• Scarce advertising compared to
competition
• Newer technologies
RECOMMENDATIONS
After analysing the tablet market and RIM’s input into it, we agree that RIM’s
Blackberry Playbook should remain in the tablet industry.
With new markets opening in different parts of the world it could allow RIM to gain
new market share.
Also after viewing our SWOT analysis we understand that the weakness and threats to
RIM can be fixed or do minimum impact in the long run.
RIM has solid strengths and their opportunities can help them improve.
Moreover, RIM has a loyal customer base and with a predicted increase in demand in
the industry, it shows likelihood for new customers and higher profits.