BlackBerry Storm is Here
October 8, 2008 by Susan Gunelius
Filed under Marketing
The cat’s finally out of the bag – officially. Today, RIM announced the coming of the BlackBerry Storm later this year (check out the BlackBerry Storm press release).
Looks like the touchscreen handheld world will remain divided among iPhone and AT&T Wireless loyalists vs. BlackBerry and Verizon Wireless users (or Vodafone in Europe, India, Australia and New Zealand). First Apple vs. Microsoft, now Apple vs. RIM, what’s next? Apple vs. McDonald’s? Apple vs. Coca-Cola? I’m joking of course (kind of).
As I mentioned in my post on Brandcurve yesterday, the BlackBerry Storm adds features to position it more competitively against the iPhone without losing focus on its core customer – the business user. The exclusivity with Verizon Wireless and Vodafone continues to separate the handheld market into two distinct camps, but I can’t wait to see what kind of positioning both brands begin to posture and what kind of brand loyalty transitioning customers will begin to take part in.
What do you think? Who will the ultimate winner be – BlackBerry or iPhone, RIM or Apple? Or will another brand jump ahead of both of them?
Image: RIM.com
