Cliff? What Cliff? I Don’t See Any Cliff.

Then Co-CEO of BlackBerry-maker RIM, in 2010, responding to Steve Jobs’s claim that the iPhone had passed BlackBerry in sales and he didn’t see them ever catching up:

For those of us who live outside of Apple’s distortion field, we know that 7-inch tablets will actually be a big portion of the market and we know that Adobe Flash support actually matters to customers who want a real web experience. We also know that while Apple’s attempt to control the ecosystem and maintain a closed platform may be good for Apple, developers want more options and customers want to fully access the overwhelming majority of web sites that use Flash. We think many customers are getting tired of being told what to think by Apple. And by the way, RIM has achieved record shipments for five consecutive quarters and recently shared guidance of 13.8 — 14.4 million BlackBerry smartphones for the current quarter.

This is what happens when a technology company is run by executives who don’t understand the underlying technology. Every single thing Balsillie wrote here was either wrong or shortsighted. Everything. Smaller tablets? Apple came out with the iPad Mini in 2012. Apple wasn’t first but they didn’t have to be. Adobe Flash is now dead on all mobile platforms, and it’s dying on the desktop. And worst of all, equating then-current sales strength with a bright future.

★ Friday, 30 September 2016