RIM Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis moaned to the NYT: “Why is it that people don’t appreciate our profits? Why is it that people don’t appreciate our growth? Why is it that people don’t appreciate the fact that we spent the last four years going global? Why is it that people don’t appreciate that we have 500 carriers in 170 countries with products in almost 30 languages?”
Going on, he stated, “I don’t fully understand why there’s this negative sentiment, and I just don’t have the time to battle it. Because in the end, what I’ve learned is you’ve just got to prove it over and over and over.”
I wonder if he thinks it’s a form of Tall Poppy Syndrome, a term well-known in Australia that describes a backlash against someone successful. The last horse in the race is only loved when he’s in that position – and not when he suddenly strikes ahead and succeeds. Call it jealousy, if you will.
BlackBerry handsets may be selling extremely well – even overtaking iPhone sales for a while last year – but as everyone knows, quality reigns supreme over quantity. Just look at Nokia. I’m not saying RIM can’t turn things around – after all, the PlayBook looks fantastic, and it sounds as though they’ve got a great line-up of products for this year. But in this age of iPhones and Androids, is a quality keyboard, BBM and awesome emailing system enough? [NY Times]
Image credit: Wikipedia
