Not sure if Research in Motion is too pleased with a column I wrote in today's National Post about some confusion I have over their licensing and messaging strategies. During interviews with co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, I attempted to get them to explain the economics of RIM's software licensing program where the company will let other device makers such as Nokia and Motorola use its popular e-mail software. The idea is you get a smaller piece of a much larger pie rather than a large piece of a small pie. Lazaridis dismissed this suggestion as "naive analysis", which made little sense to me given Microsoft has made billions of dollars from using this approach with Windows.
RIM also took some offense with the notion it's an e-mail device and software maker. Instead, it's a "wireless platform developer", which means the Blackberry or Blackberry-enabled device can be used to access other applications. While this approach makes sense from a long-term perspective, I was confused by RIM's uneasiness about fully embracing e-mail as its golden goose.
My take is that Balsillie and Lazaridis, who have been discovered by international media in the past year, have adopted Andy Grove's "only the paranoid survive" mantra. My take is they're reluctant to be seen as a one-trick pony in the fear that another wireless e-mail solution could come out of nowhere to steal their thunder. By protraying themselves as a wireless platform developer, they are trying to give the impression the threat of an e-mail competitor is already being addressed.