Research In Motion yesterday introduced its first major new BlackBerry model in more than a year – the Bold, which has quicker Web browsing and more room for songs and videos – getting a jump on a faster iPhone that analysts expect next month.
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A customer watched a demonstration of an iPhone at an Apple store. Apple said yesterday that its U.S. and U.K. online stores are sold out of the iPhone, a sign that current supplies are being winnowed ahead of the launch of the device's next generation.
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The Bold, or 9000, matches the screen resolution, but not the size, of the Apple iPhone, which has emerged as a potent competitor in the “smart phone” category.
It has much more internal memory than the BlackBerry Curve, a glossy metallic look, and adds corporate-strength Wi-Fi capabilities to third-generation cellular and Bluetooth radios. Otherwise it stays close to the formula of the Curve, with a horizontal screen above a trackball and a keyboard with one letter per key.
The phone, which also has satellite navigation and a video camera, will start selling at AT&T for $300 to $400 this summer in the United States, said James Balsillie, RIM's co-chief executive.
The product sets up a showdown between Apple and RIM in the market for so-called third-generation phones, which offer speedier Web access and video downloads. Phones with Internet, e-mail and video are the fastest-growing part of the wireless market, with users quadrupling to 400 million in the next three years, RBC Capital Markets estimates.
Research In Motion
Research In Motion's BlackBerry Bold, introduced yesterday, has quicker Web browsing and more room for songs and videos.
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BlackBerry Bold
vs. iPhone
Research in Motion unveiled its newest version of the BlackBerry smart phone with more room for songs and quicker Web browsing abilities, getting a jump on a faster iPhone that analysts expect next month.
BlackBerry Bold
Memory: 1 GB (up to 16 GB with memory card)
Typing: Keyboard
Display: 480 x 320 pixels LCD
Camera: 2 megapixels, with flash and video stereo Bluetooth
iPhone
Memory: 8 GB and 16 GB models
Typing: Touch screen
Display: 480 x 320 pixels LCD
Camera: 2 megapixels, no video capability, mono Bluetooth
SOURCE: Reasearch in Motion, Apple
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“You need to provide faster networks, faster processors,” Balsillie said. Consumers are using “more and more multimedia” and “there are lots of contenders out there.”
The Bold, which also will go on sale in Europe and Asia, is the first BlackBerry to use high-speed downlink packet access, or HSDPA, a network technology that accelerates data delivery.
Apple may introduce an iPhone with faster data in June, according to analysts such as RBC's Mike Abramsky.
Apple said yesterday that its online stores in the United States and the United Kingdom are sold out of the iPhone, a sign that current supplies are being winnowed ahead of the launch of the device's next generation. The company has been known for clearing out its inventory of a certain product ahead of major upgrades.
Since the iPhone's debut last June, Apple has taken the No. 2 spot in U.S. sales of smart phones, handsets with computer and Internet functions. The BlackBerry ranks first.
To fend off the iPhone, RIM has expanded beyond business customers, releasing devices that have music players and cameras. Users of the new BlackBerry can listen to songs from Apple's iTunes music program.
“Where Research In Motion falls short against Apple is in marketing and on the entertainment side,” Rob Enderle, president of research firm Enderle Group in San Jose, said yesterday in a Bloomberg Television interview. “Where Apple's been moving is on entertainment, particularly video.”
In a bid to foster new uses for the BlackBerry, the company started a $150 million venture capital fund with the Royal Bank of Canada and Thomson Reuters, Balsillie said. The fund invests in companies developing smart phone applications.
The Bold has 1 gigabyte of memory, more than any previous BlackBerry. Users can expand it to 8 gigabytes with a memory card. Apple sells the iPhone in 8-gigabyte and 16-gigabyte versions.
While Balsillie unveiled the Bold before Apple showed the new iPhone, the Apple device may still be the one that starts selling first, said UBS AG analyst Maynard Um. Apple, whose iPhone is sold exclusively in the United States through AT&T, usually waits to show new products until they are available to shoppers.
With rounded corners, the Bold's design resembles the iPhone's. Unlike Apple's product, it has a regular keyboard, not a touch screen. Still, Balsillie said he isn't “religious” about having a keyboard in the BlackBerry. Analysts say he may release a touch-screen model later this year.
“The BlackBerry design has improved quite a bit,” UBS's Um said. “We are going to see more innovation coming from them.”
The BlackBerry dominated U.S. shipments for e-mail phones in the fourth quarter with 41 percent of the market, according to the research firm Canalys. The iPhone had 28 percent and Palm, maker of the Treo, had 9 percent.
While RIM gets most of the sales, Apple may grow faster this year. Apple may more than triple its shipments to 14 million this year from last year's 4 million, RBC's Abramsky estimates. BlackBerry shipments will almost double this fiscal year to 25 million from 14 million last year, he projects.
RIM shares rose $9.20, or 6.9 percent, to close at $141.97 yesterday. Apple shares advanced $4.71, or 2.6 percent, to $188.16. RIM stock has almost tripled in the past 12 months, while Apple has gained 73 percent over that span.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
