Profile
Research In Motion
What is that strange, flat, handheld device that everyone seems to be
using? It’s a Blackberry – the first successful handheld electronic device
that integrates email, phone, SMS, and organizer features. Research in
Motion Limited (RIM) is among the leading designers and manufacturers
of wireless technologies currently serving the market of mobile
communications. Located in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM was founded in 1984
by Mike Lazaridis in partnership with Douglas Fregin.
The pair viewed the business as an opportunity to invest in a technology
that was still very poorly understood. Mike felt that the potential for
wireless technology presented the company with such an unparalleled
business opportunity that RIM would continue to invest in it for 10 years
before their vision of success would begin to be realized. Since then, the
company has erupted in size. It now employs 3500 people and has offices located in Canada, the
United States, Europe, Hong Kong, Australia, and Singapore. The monetary success of RIM is
apparent from its 2005 fiscal earnings of more than $200 million.
Mike Lazaridis and James L. Balsillie are the current CEOs of RIM. Mike is also the company’s
president. Mike began RIM while still an undergraduate, and now holds an honorary Doctor of
Engineering degree from the University of Waterloo. He has earned more than 30 patents and
numerous awards for his innovative wireless technology and software, including being named
Canada’s Nation Builder of the Year for 2002 by readers of the Globe and Mail.
Blackberry was launched in North America in January 1999 and gets its name from the chance
remark that its keyboard resembled the seeds of a berry. Not only did RIM supply the exterior
product, they were also responsible for every other component – from writing the operating software
to providing the servers required for the e-mail. Indeed, RIM even leased airtime from phone carriers,
truly making themselves the sole producers of the impressive device.
RIM markets BlackBerry to a range of customers, including the individual, small-to-medium size
businesses, as well as enterprises and government, with the corporate sector constituting the bulk of
RIM’s clients. In order to appeal to a diverse market, RIM offers its customers a variety of products
from which to choose.
Despite the BlackBerry’s tremendous success, it is not without competition. In 1996, Palm Computing
launched the first handheld, the PalmPilot. Although PalmPilot set the innovative precedent as the
first wireless computer to hit the market, many customers have opted for RIM’s more recent
BlackBerry. Where the PalmPilot requires a pen-based mode of data entry, the BlackBerry utilizes a
built-in keyboard; a feature that has largely contributed to its success.
Article adapted from:
Wilson, Jack et al. The World of Business. Nelson Education, Canada, 2007. (pps. 227-228)
Questions
1. How is RIM’s manufacturing of the BlackBerry product different from any other
company’s manufacturing efforts?
2. To whom does RIM market its product to?
3. Why do you think RIM expanded to countries outside of Canada?
4. What are some of the interesting accomplishments of Mr. Lazaridis? What is an
honorary degree?
5. What does the word “integrate” mean?
a. brings together
b. separates
c. processes
d. includes
6. At the time Lazaridis and Fregin began their business, wireless technology was:
a. becoming increasingly popular amongst consumers
b. not understood by most people
c. an unparalleled business
d. not considered a viable business opportunity
7. In 2002, Lazaridis was named Canada’s Nation Builder of the year by:
a. the Globe and Mail
b. the University of Waterloo
c. readers of the Globe and Mail
d. North Americans
8. The name BlackBerry originated from:
a. North America
b. a comment made about a keyboard
c. Balsillie’s favourite fruit
d. The colour of the product was to be either red or black.
9. Why do most consumers prefer the BlackBerry to the competition’s PalmPilot?
a. The BlackBerry is cheaper
b. The PalmPilot is more difficult to understand
c. Consumers prefer the built-in keyboard to the pen-based tool used by PalmPilot.
d. RIM is simply a more successful business.