Research in Motion (RIMM) co-CEO Lazaridis Lays Out the Future for the Smartphone Maker
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) co-CEO Mike Lazaridis sat down for a recent interview with the Financial Post to talk all things Blackberry and what it coming in the next decade for the company that revolutionized what a cell phone can be.
Lazaridis first talked about how for the last decade manufacturers and consumers have been obsessed with the size of mobile device and the fascination of the smaller the product the better. Throughout the decade screen size, dimensions and weight have all trimmed down, while the improvements in strength, battery life, ergonomics and keyboards have provided consumers with greater ease of use.
"What's interesting to me at the moment is that we are approaching certain limitations to what I consider a pocket-able device," Lazaridis said. "Instead what happens is now we are looking at making devices bigger."
Lazaridis comments on the future of large tablet devices that will in his words be nothing more than a "laptop without a keyboard or a hard drive." He questions if consumers will be willing to make a paradigm shift to carrying around a stripped down laptop that is not able to fit into a pocket.
The exponential growth in the creation of applications for smartphones has been extraordinary, especially for the Blackberry, according to Lazaridis. He sees no stopping the growth of applications as it is truly an open forum for developers to continuously write programs.
"Today you can write an app in a few days and publish it and the next day you could have millions of users downloading. This app doesn't have to be a lifetime's effort, it doesn't have to be something that's written by hundreds of developers over years and then tested to make sure that it works across all environments."
"So what's happened is because the barrier to entry to write applications is so low on these devices, and because the customer expectations are also so low, this becomes a distribution priority more than which platform do I support?"
Lazaridis commented on the current impact that smartphones are having on wireless networks and how improvements can be made to provide a better experience for consumers. He notes that people are just starting to realize some of the amazing things that mobile devices can provide to keep them connected at all times through various mediums. This has in Lazaridis' eyes put a large strain on the current networks.
"As an industry we need to think of a way to conserve this precious resource just like we're trying to conserve other things today. Believe it or not [wireless] spectrum is a physically limited resource."
Just as RIM has led the way for smartphone innovation throughout the past decade, Lazaridis sees the company setting a standard for the future of wireless communications.
"I think that's something that's going to be really important and I know that the foundation we've built and perfected with BlackBerry over the past two decades is ready for that."
Lazaridis first talked about how for the last decade manufacturers and consumers have been obsessed with the size of mobile device and the fascination of the smaller the product the better. Throughout the decade screen size, dimensions and weight have all trimmed down, while the improvements in strength, battery life, ergonomics and keyboards have provided consumers with greater ease of use.
"What's interesting to me at the moment is that we are approaching certain limitations to what I consider a pocket-able device," Lazaridis said. "Instead what happens is now we are looking at making devices bigger."
Lazaridis comments on the future of large tablet devices that will in his words be nothing more than a "laptop without a keyboard or a hard drive." He questions if consumers will be willing to make a paradigm shift to carrying around a stripped down laptop that is not able to fit into a pocket.
The exponential growth in the creation of applications for smartphones has been extraordinary, especially for the Blackberry, according to Lazaridis. He sees no stopping the growth of applications as it is truly an open forum for developers to continuously write programs.
"Today you can write an app in a few days and publish it and the next day you could have millions of users downloading. This app doesn't have to be a lifetime's effort, it doesn't have to be something that's written by hundreds of developers over years and then tested to make sure that it works across all environments."
"So what's happened is because the barrier to entry to write applications is so low on these devices, and because the customer expectations are also so low, this becomes a distribution priority more than which platform do I support?"
Lazaridis commented on the current impact that smartphones are having on wireless networks and how improvements can be made to provide a better experience for consumers. He notes that people are just starting to realize some of the amazing things that mobile devices can provide to keep them connected at all times through various mediums. This has in Lazaridis' eyes put a large strain on the current networks.
"As an industry we need to think of a way to conserve this precious resource just like we're trying to conserve other things today. Believe it or not [wireless] spectrum is a physically limited resource."
Just as RIM has led the way for smartphone innovation throughout the past decade, Lazaridis sees the company setting a standard for the future of wireless communications.
"I think that's something that's going to be really important and I know that the foundation we've built and perfected with BlackBerry over the past two decades is ready for that."
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