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VIDEO: What Happens if BlackBerry Goes Defunct?

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BY:
User Experience Researcher
Additional contributions by Dan Leadbetter and Louis Ramirez.

It seems like BlackBerry has been teetering on the edge of extinction for years. Adding fuel to that fire was Monday's announcement from BlackBerry themselves, that they were exploring a sale.

If Blackberry does go away, what does it mean to the cell phone marketplace? In this brief — yet lively — video discussion, our experts examine the effects that BackBerry's demise would have on the current mobile phone landscape.

What about you, readers? How do you think the cell phone market will fare if BlackBerry were to fold?

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User Experience Researcher

Jeff Somogyi is the DealNews User Experience Researcher. Since working here he's written deals, features, promotional and newsletter copy, blog posts, as well as scripts for our videos. Follow him on Google+, Twitter at @sommerjam or his blog.
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6 comments
roderickm
Even today, Blackberry is considered the most security-minded platform. Many top officials in the US government use them. India considered banning them because the encryption was considered too strong for legal wiretapping. But contractors such as General Dynamics and L-3 have developed highly secure alternatives, hitting Blackberry at the high end of their market. And the DOD Commercial Mobile Device Implementation Plan paves the way for devices from Apple, Samsung, and others to increase pressure from the low end in the coveted government market. There's no significant third-party developer community, so there's no app store churning out cash for them. It's curtains for Blackberry.
August 19, 2013
sidehtch
I would be so happy if they finally went away! I am forced to still use a blackberry because someone at my company still likes them. I find it so frustrating when i see my peers with access to so many helpful apps while i am still stuck with the mostly useless blackberry apps. Please, go away Blackberry!
August 19, 2013
Stoermer
Blackberry may exit the US market, but the rest of the world still uses it extensively due to the low cost. The US is not the center of the universe!
August 16, 2013
What's a blackberry? :)
August 15, 2013
mitsured
My company is in the process of moving away from blackberry. We actually have a, I guess the best way to put it would be, EOL date coming up next month when all corporate users must move to a new device. The free "corporate supplied" replacement phone is indeed a Windows based device, or the user has the option of moving to an iphone or android based phone as long as the device is on the approved list and is setup with the proper security. I am an avid Android user so my pick is to move to the S4 even though I wish I could wait a few months for the S5. Currently my work phone is a Blackberry Curve, I think the only thing I will miss is the battery life. If someone 10 years ago told me that I would gladly hand in my phone which lasted 3+ days without a charge for a phone which won't make it through a day at a theme park or a day long training away from my trusty charger I would have called them nuts. I mean come on how did I get tricked into needing a charger in every room of my house!
August 14, 2013
stream
Long before Blackberry dominated the corporate market in mobile devices, everyone who was anyone had a Palm. Much like Blackberry, Palm failed to move quickly enough when the new generation of smart phones hit the market, resulting in their purchase and eventual dismemberment. And while portions of their ingenious WebOS interface are still slowly trickling into iphone and android, the "vacuum" their demise created was so small, it was barely even news. I don't believe Blackberry's eventual exist will be any more earth-shattering. Their phones have been behind the curve for so long now, only the extremely committed BB fanboy will even notice their departure.
August 14, 2013