The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to reject a petition filed by Research In Motion (RIM) to review a federal appeal court ruling that upheld infringement charges against NTP has caused quite a stir within RIM's customer base. Emotions are running high, and speculation is wide regarding what RIM should do, from quickly settle the case to deploy an often cited, but never seen work around from the company. RIM is resisting a settlement as it could cost the company hundreds of millions in current and future profits. On the other hand, a work around could be difficult and costly for customers to deploy.
Increasingly, we get asked whether customers should continue to support the platform, and do we think customers are at risk. While we think this is a very high stakes situation, customers should continue to support the RIM platform. RIM has experienced phenomenal growth due to the fact that it has an intensely loyal customer base that drives tremendous value from it's offerings. While the company is now in the final throes of deciding which path to take, we do not think it will make a decision that is not in the best interest of its customers.
Currently the Blackberry platform has over 4 million users. This is a very vocal base that has been experiencing considerable uncertainty over the fate of a device they have come to depend on for everyday productivity. If you listen carefully to this customer base, what you hear is not resentment or anger, you hear desperation. This is a rare situation in technology patent litigation. So often in these kinds of cases the threat is one of curtailing future sales. In this case it not only would impact the future, but the experience of millions of customers who currently use the service. In this base, the potential of substitution is as intimidating and disruptive as having nothing at all.
In a very real sense, this entire experience could be the best product endorsement we have ever seen.
Increasingly, we get asked whether customers should continue to support the platform, and do we think customers are at risk. While we think this is a very high stakes situation, customers should continue to support the RIM platform. RIM has experienced phenomenal growth due to the fact that it has an intensely loyal customer base that drives tremendous value from it's offerings. While the company is now in the final throes of deciding which path to take, we do not think it will make a decision that is not in the best interest of its customers.
Currently the Blackberry platform has over 4 million users. This is a very vocal base that has been experiencing considerable uncertainty over the fate of a device they have come to depend on for everyday productivity. If you listen carefully to this customer base, what you hear is not resentment or anger, you hear desperation. This is a rare situation in technology patent litigation. So often in these kinds of cases the threat is one of curtailing future sales. In this case it not only would impact the future, but the experience of millions of customers who currently use the service. In this base, the potential of substitution is as intimidating and disruptive as having nothing at all.
In a very real sense, this entire experience could be the best product endorsement we have ever seen.
