Failure pattern · Canada · 2007–2016
BlackBerry: from smartphone leader to exit from phones
BlackBerry dominated business smartphones with keyboards and secure email. It underestimated the iPhone's touchscreen and app ecosystem, lost its market, and stopped making phones in 2016.
By Shivam Bhandari · Reviewed 31 October 2026 · How we write
by the numbers
- Peak market value (2008)
- about $83 billion
- BlackBerry 10 launch
- 2013
- Inventory write-down (2013)
- nearly $1 billion
- Stopped making phones
- 2016
What happened
Research In Motion (RIM), based in Waterloo, Canada, made BlackBerry the essential device for professionals and governments, with physical keyboards, secure email, and long battery life. Its market value peaked at about $83 billion in 2008.
When Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, RIM's leaders believed businesses would never give up keyboards and security. But consumers bought iPhones and Android phones, demanded them at work, and app ecosystems grew rapidly. RIM's touchscreen attempts were weak, and its new BlackBerry 10 platform arrived only in 2013.
BlackBerry wrote down nearly $1 billion of unsold inventory in 2013. It stopped designing its own phones in 2016 and refocused on security software for businesses and cars.
Timeline
- 2007
iPhone launches.
- 2008
RIM's value peaks.
- 2013
BlackBerry 10 launches; big write-down.
- 2016
Exits phone hardware.
what went wrong
- Leaders dismissed a new kind of competitor.
- Missed the shift from business buyers to consumer choice.
- Underestimated the importance of apps.
the lesson
Your best customers' current preferences may not protect you when the market changes who makes the buying decision.
Apply it to your business
- 1Watch who actually decides on purchases — it can shift.
- 2Take new entrants seriously, especially if customers love them.
- 3Ecosystems can matter more than hardware.
Laws at work in this story
Figures are rounded and drawn from public reports, company filings and widely cited coverage at the time. Check the company's latest filings before relying on any number.