Heins Promises that BlackBerry 10 Hardware Will Be Competitive at Launch

BBW12_GeneralSession_6

One of the analysts from Goldman asked a question that immediately came to mind when RIM announced that BlackBerry 10 was launching in calendar (not fiscal!) Q1 2013. She said that chipset roadmaps, displays, hardware, and more are on a constant upgrade cycle. What was relevant for BlackBerry 10 launching in the 2nd half of 2012 will no longer be competitive in Q1 2013. In short she asked if RIM was going to ship BlackBerry 10 with 6 month old hardware. Great question right?

Thorsten Heins said he was actually glad they asked this question. He said that when RIM designed BlackBerry 10 it was designed as a platform not a phone with hard specifications. He said he could not go into specifics on the call but he was “very confident” that “BlackBerry 10 devices would deliver both performance and an exciting experience.” He also said that the draw of BlackBerry 10 is not the hardware specifications but the experience targeted at BlackBerry users who value productivity along with exciting features on the software layer. He promised that BlackBerry 10 device hardware will be “more than competitive” but stressed that hardware was not BlackBerry 10’s competitive advantage.

That is very reassuring to hear that RIM is planning on being “more than competitive” with hardware and software. Now if only they could start bringing that timetable in since they are in desperate need to ship BlackBerry 10 ASAP.

PS: If you want to check out the answer Heins gave verbatim just go to 42 minutes or so into the earnings call.

15 total comments on this postSubmit your comment!