Numbers Don’t Lie. BlackBerry is Far From Dead

I know I’m not the only one that’s completely fed up with so called analysts and ill-informed naysayers declaring that RIM is dead. Most either ignore the hard facts or have no idea what the actual situation is. One of the most ridiculous articles I have seen to date commenting on RIM’s downfall compares BlackBerry Flow and BlackBerry Hub to “the swipe-down menu from Apple’s iPhone.” Really? He goes on to say that the keyboard “sounds like a combination of autocorrect and the Swype app.” The best part of the article is when he references RIM’s cash reserve of “$2 million.” Perfect. Someone who doesn’t know the difference between million and billion giving stock advice. Luckily, due to his lambasting in the comments of his article, he at least corrected the mistake. I’m surprised the article still exists at all with all of the other blunders that remain.

This guy has obviously never handled a dev alpha, let alone BB10 final hardware. Heck, he hasn’t even bothered to watch a youtube video or two about how BB10 actually works. I don’t proclaim to be an expert myself, but I do make sure to be at least a little bit informed before I spew such a mess to the masses.

Lucas over at N4BB snagged the above picture at the BlackBerry 10 Gold SDK tweetup in New York which outlines the facts about RIM and why they are FAR from dead. One of the most telling statistics is the last one on the slide. If 90% of America’s highest ranked corporations depend on BlackBerry to run their mobile operations, RIM must be doing something right.

We know that some organizations have been dropping RIM as their primary mobile service provider. This comes as little surprise as BlackBerry has definitely fallen from their once dominant position and is not the cool kid anymore. However; with BlackBerry 10 on the horizon, we are already seeing the pendulum swing back into RIM territory.

Back in October, The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) announced that they will be ending their contract with RIM in favor of Apple. Since ICE employs 17,600 this is kind of a big deal, especially for RIM given their recent troubles. Reuters has reported today that ICE may not be done with RIM just yet. An ICE spokeswoman announced they are set to begin the new year on a pilot program on BlackBerry 10 devices and BES 10.

Although this doesn’t necessarily mean RIM has re-secured almost 18,000 lost clients, I have a pretty good feeling that once people get these smooth, powerful, BlackBerry 10 devices in their hands and see how they can make their lives easier, ICE will make the smart choice and stick with RIM.

So next time you hear, “BlackBerry is dead!” or, “RIM is going down,” remind the poor, uninformed soul of some of the facts. Numbers don’t lie. BlackBerry is FAR from dead.