Since reporting their Q4 and 2012 Year-End Fiscal earnings a week ago, Research In Motion has been on the receiving end of various news articles and editorials highlighting the decline in some figures. Some of the reports claim that the BlackBerry smartphone has lost the battle with competitors, not to mention speculations about a RIM sale. These have sparked attention and concern among BlackBerry smartphone owners across the globe, raising questions over the future of the BlackBerry smartphones.
Over at Capitol Hill, however, it seems that BlackBerry remains to be the smartphone of choice among federal workers, including President Obama and his reliable staff.
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Although it may be possible that the preference for BlackBerry smartphones is somewhat influenced or aided by bureaucracy that prevents the quick shift to other devices, there is also a fundamental reason that keeps the federal government’s trust in the popular smartphone.
In the article published on the Washington Post, Casey Coleman, Chief Information Officer at the General Services Administration shared that they “appreciate RIM’s focus on security, which is paramount for government use.”
Although the bring-your-own-device movement has also made its way into the federal government, and the agency has already issued some iPhones and Android-based phones, the overall market share (as far as federal workers are concerned) still belongs vastly to BlackBerry.
Despite the increased efforts to ensure security among other smartphone platforms, some agency officials believe that newer devices aren’t as secure.
There are also indications that pricing may also be influencing the choice, as BlackBerry smartphones are reasonably-priced, considering the power behind it. We have to remember that it shifting to another platform incurs more costs, as other smartphones are more expensive, and that significant investment will also have to be made to change the existing IT infrastructure supporting mobile communication.
RIM values the BlackBerry’s place in the federal government, and will most likely work at keeping it. As RIM Senior Vice President Scott Totzke puts it, “The federal government is a very important market to us and will continue to be. It is our core strength.”
Read the full article on The Washington Post.
Note: Feature photo taken from a previous BlackBerry Empire article.