Perhaps the most unexpected announcement to come from today’s BlackBerry 10 launch was the revelation that Research In Motion (RIM) is no more. From today forward, the whole company will be known as BlackBerry.
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It’s a move that makes sense. BlackBerry is pretty much the company’s sole focus these days and, if it’s going to make a comeback, a quick rebranding can’t hurt. After all, think about all the horrendous business headlines relating to RIM over the past few years. The only negative headlines surrounding BlackBerry come from reviews of the devices and gadget editors are notoriously difficult to please.
“From today on, we are BlackBerry everywhere in the world,” RIM um…BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins announced at today’s launch event.
The message coming from BlackBerry is that rebranding represents a new start for it. “We have transformed ourselves in and out, refined our vision,” Heins said of the company that once ruled the smartphone roost.
On the face of it therefore, the new name seems like a good idea. What matters though is what the people buying the phones think. BlackBerry desperately needs to get its cool back, win back mindshare and convinces the iZombies and Fandroids to go back to a brand many would have recently been desperate to escape.
