From Keyboard to Dashboard:
BlackBerry’s Comeback story……
What I Learned from it…
Late ’90s, I was on a pager.
Then came my first BlackBerry…
“A small phone, tiny physical keyboard, little trackball.
Tap-tap, scroll, send. I felt fast. In control.
That red blink when something needed me.
Small keys. Big confidence.”
Then the iPhone arrived.
My BlackBerry went into the drawer.
Along with that BlackBerry (RIM) didn’t just lose sales…
it lost the moment.
When the market moves on, competition eats you alive.
What do you do with no market left for you?
Either you leave the arena, or you learn a new way to play.
For BlackBerry, that meant letting go of the phone in our hands
and choosing new arena it can play strong.
Over the next few years, Quietly, BlackBerry picked its new arena: the car. With QNX, it learned the cockpit, shifted from linking to running the dash, and left phones to focus on what matters the CarOS behind the wheel.
Fast-forward to today: I start my car and everything just works.
Screen wakes. Cluster settles. Bluetooth connects.
That quiet calm? BlackBerry’s QNX under the dashboard.
It left my hand and moved to my dashboard.
Same promise but it is just a New Arena.
What I have learned from this is:
➤ You can’t stop a big wave. Don’t fight it change the board and ride it.
➤ Don’t fall in love with the product; stay loyal to the promise you make to customers.
➤ When the screen or platform changes, carry your value to where people still need it.
➤ Quiet wins last….. reliable, simple, and hard to replace.
I have hit that moment twice…..my market vanished into thin air.
🔥 First during telecom days … when Reliance Infocomm launched RelianceIndianCall.com for NRIs in 2005 with dirt-cheap prices.
⚡ Later with iPay (“the cash collection rails for e-commerce”), after UPI took over everywhere.
First time, I chose a new arena and sold what I could.
Second time, I didn’t….. I shut it down and moved on.
Not perfect, but in the moment, survival is a choice;
there’s no right or wrong—only perspective and courage
🗣️ Now its your turn to speak >>>
✍️ To stay true to your promise, ask the question now, not later:
🧠 When the market moves on, what part of your promise do you carry to the next arena