Kevin Bostic
The Pentagon's budget for BlackBerry 10 device testing will be cut dramatically in the near future, and with the Department of Defense finishing up testing on Android devices and Apple's iOS, the already struggling Canadian handset maker may lose even more ground in an industry where it was once a dominant force.
Electronista reported on Thursday that the DoD, facing a mandatory 11 percent budget pullback due to the federal sequester, will be reducing the funds allotted to testing new devices in an effort to cut costs. As BlackBerry 10 devices have yet to be released in the United States, the program to test them for approval for use within the Department is thought to be "low-hanging fruit."
"We're almost done with the iOS and Android platform testing procedure, so that's fine," a source told Electronista. "BlackBerry is going to have to suck it up and not get properly tested for a while. Maybe never."
The DoD is not killing off the BB 10 testing program entirely, however, as a few devices and a test server are already in operation in a secure facility. Instead, the budget for obtaining more devices will likely be cut before more units can be procured.
Thursday's news could signify a considerable blow to BlackBerry, which has counted large organizations such as the DoD among its most faithful clientele for some time. The enterprise sector, though, is increasingly turning to Apple's iOS platform, and to a lesser extent Google's Android OS, for its information technology needs, .
There are currently about 470,000 BlackBerry devices in daily use at the DoD, none of which run BB 10 outside of the pilot program. The most recent financial reports for BlackBerry showed the company at about 78 million total subscribers worldwide.
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12 Comments
"We're almost done with the iOS and Android platform testing procedure, so that's fine," a source told Electronista. "BlackBerry is going to have to suck it up and not get properly tested for a while. Maybe never." OUCH!
I was going to post a snide comment or make a joke about how poorly BlackBerry is doing, but even a person as ruthless as myself sometimes finds it difficult to kick a man who's already bleeding and lying on the ground, even though they might deserve it.
When Steve Jobs said in 2007 that the iPhone was at least 5 years ahead of it's time, the man was not lying.
I can't understand why the DoD doesn't just choose iOS in light of the recent reports of Android malware. They should be also testing MS win phone just for diversification because it is a poor strategy to run all your computing or communication on one platform in case there is an exploit of one platform you are not completely disabled. But having to rely on a foreign company like BB for your communication services is never a good idea, which is why I wish Apple would bring their manufacturing back to the US.
Blackberry is down but I don't know if they are out. New device and OS looks good, as do early sales reports. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/blackberry-encouraged-by-early-z10-sales-ceo-says/article9474427/
When Steve Jobs said in 2007 that the iPhone was at least 5 years ahead of it's time, the man was not lying.
The interesting thing about Steve saying that is now that it's five years later, the iPhone OS is becoming stale and needs to be another five years ahead of it's time.