BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins calls the iPhone ‘old’. Yes, really.

BlackBerry 10 Thorsten Heins

For today’s instalment of ‘that’s so ironic’, I present to you the words of BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins. The man who is head of the company whose devices have been repeatedly criticised for failing to innovate and keep up with the pace of change (before the launch of BlackBerry 10, at least) has reportedly called the iPhone “old”.

Speaking to the Australian Financial Review, Heins added his voice to the arguments that Apple’s designs are increasingly becoming evolutionary and not revolutionary, saying “the rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don’t innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly” and that “the user interface on the iPhone, with all due respect for what this invention was all about, is now five years old”.

BlackBerry has spent a lot of time redesigning their operating system to be more gesture-based and allow for quicker and easier multitasking — an area where Heins thinks Apple has fallen short. “The point is that you can never stand still. It is true for us as well. Launching BB10 just put us on the starting grid of the wider mobile computing grand prix, and now we need to win it,” Heins said.

Bold statements from the CEO, especially when you consider the company’s recent history and that Apple’s phones have consistently outperformed BlackBerry’s devices in the sales stakes. Apple secured an estimated seven percent of worldwide mobile phone marketshare last year, while BlackBerry accounted for just two percent. Nevertheless, BlackBerry loyalists are optimistic about the revamped platform and new phones like the flagship Z10 are gathering (generally) positive reviews.

In the interview, Heins also touched on a few issues that are still haunting his company, like the absence of notable apps like Netflix and Instagram. Heins reiterated that they are working on it, and said that he thinks developers are still waiting to see how popular the platform is before committing to a BlackBerry app. He also said that there would be 100 000 native apps in BlackBerry’s App World before the official US launch of the new phones, up from 70 000 when the phones originally hit the market back in February.

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T
Um… ok.
Apple is not old. It is brand new. A new row of icons were added and Apple came out with a cool new plug for the phone.
There you have it. NEW!!
Its an accurate statement. iPhone is in the identical place Blackberry WAS a few years ago. To cap it off the person who CONTROLLED the companies every move is dead.
The iOs is now several years old and little to nothing has changed. Just patched to fix some problems.
Not sure why this is difficult to get?
I guess you will have to wait for iphone 6 so you can lay all the past ones on the table to confirm.
The share prices of Apple and Blackberry are moving in 2 different directions right now because its an effective tool at forecasting where a company will be months out.
And a watch or a new TV will not save Apple.
T
Oh and Miss Granger.
Perhaps you can re write the story and try to focus on the statement from the CEO. His statement is the iOs is old. Not how many phones have been sold.
Blackberry had the same market share and touted the same line when they were no innovating and had the lions share of the market.
Apple is in the same position and the innovator is dead.
Those are the facts.
http://twitter.com/misslcgranger Lauren Granger
Thanks for the comment. The statement from the CEO is the focus of the story — the statistics are supplementary. I think the sales figures are relevant — the iPhone’s user interface may be ‘old’, but people are still buying the phones. It’s an indication of interest in the device, which is driven by things like how easy it is to use and what features it has. It’s also important to consider the recent history of the company to provide context for the statements. While other operating systems are becoming more popular, whether or not Apple’s innovative streak is over is still being debated.
Wilburforce
Funny! The one thing that feels old with the iPhone is the matrix of Apps on the screen…. and the Z10 has a innovates mastery of the same rows, implemented with ugly design. Design matters! Aesthetic matters! BBY has always missed that one tiny important bit. Speaking of copying design… the company that is famous for physical keyboards is copying the company that refused them. Who is following who here? The answer is plain, and obvious.