BlackBerry Settlement Will Bring Fair Competition to Wireless Email

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BlackBerry Settlement Will Bring Fair Competition to Wireless Email

6:50 am on March 7, 2006 | Category: Business, Mobile Devices

With the BlackBerry patent lawsuit now resolved, Research in Motion hopes to see the sales of its popular device reach now highs, as if nothing had ever happened. Competitors, however, have other ideas.

Over the course of the patent dispute, RIM’s rivals, most notably Palm and Nokia, have been heavily marketing their own wireless email alternatives, by capitalizing on the uncertainty created by NTP’s patent lawsuit.

The question now is whether most people will turn back to the BlackBerry franchise, or keep moving in droves to the competition. Palm is definitely hoping for the latter, but things certainly won’t be as easy for them now that RIM is back in the game.

Overall, this is a good thing for customers. Now that RIM does have some real competition, there are an increased number of options on the market for consumers, but no more uncertainty about a BlackBerry shutdown. Consumers will now be free to choose the device they like best and stick with it.

RIM, Plam, and other email device makers, meanwhile, will all have a tough job ahead of them competing for dominance of the very profitable and newly liberated wireless email market.