Marshalling its forces to respond to the iPhone threat, Canadian smartphone giant Research In Motion is reportedly gearing up to release new devices that feature touchscreens, which Apple’s iPhone has, and a slide-out keyboard, which it doesn’t.
RIM remains the smartphone market leader, with a fairly comfortable 35 percent share as of the first quarter, only two percent less than the prior quarter, according to the latest study from Nielsen. But Apple is breathing down RIM’s neck with 28 percent, having gained two percent, the same increase as Google’s Android-based devices, now at nine percent of the market.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs cited those statistics in unveiling the new iPhone 4 at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference last week.
“RIM should be paranoid about losing out to Apple,” says Gerry Purdy, principal analyst at MobilTrax. “They need to step up to the plate and offer a lot more than they have to date.”
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that RIM is working on an iPhone-like device that allows users to move through different applications by swiping fingers on the touchscreen. The device also has a universal search bar that accesses both the Internet and the phone’s memory for data, unnamed sources said.
RIM is also working on a tablet device to be released by the end of the year, said the Journal, which would utilize smartphone connections to get online.
RIM spokespeople declined to comment for the report, which they attributed to rumor and speculation. Company executives unveiled the latest operating system, BlackBerry 6.0, at an investor conference in April and have said a new device running that OS and a new browser will be available at the end of the third quarter.
The BlackBerry Storm is currently RIM’s only device to feature a touchscreen.
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