RIM's Empire Strikes Back at Apple

by , 3:45 PM EDT, May 13th, 2008

RIM knows it's in a battle, a two horse race, with Apple's iPhone. The new BlackBerry Bold is RIM's latest weapon in the war, according to the Wall Street Journal on Monday. [Subscription required.]

RIM's new smartphone, designed to fend off the iPhone assault, runs on the higher speed 3G network, adds processing punch and integrates more easily with iTunes.

BlackBerry Bold

The BlackBerry Bold recognizes that Apple has made strides in enterprise connectivity, so the design is intended to be even more appealing to corporate customers.

Regarding the improved iTunes sync, RIM's Jim Basillie denied that the feature was aimed at Apple's iPhone. "We don't view it as a competition thing, we view it as a natural sync to an application that you use in your life," he said.

"RIM understands the need to play where the volumes are," said John Jackson, an analyst with the Yankee Group, about the new smartphone. "You have to think about outmarketing the other guys and getting more candy at eye level, which means more models."

In its press release, RIM said, "The BlackBerry Bold smartphone (model number: 9000) is scheduled to be available from wireless carriers around the world beginning this summer."

Whether the BlackBerry Bold and RIM can fight off the competition from Apple is a story yet to be told. Even so, in the words of Apple's own Peter Oppenheimer, clearly, RIM hasn't been just sitting around.