Smartphones
BlackBerry
The smartphone pioneer that dismissed the touchscreen, watched its market share fall from dominance to near zero, and quit making phones.
- Company
- BlackBerry
- Started
- 2007
- Ended
- 2016
- Peak US smartphone share (2010)
- ~40%
- Collapse speed
- Rapid
- Preventability
- Medium
- Lesson transfer
- Industry-wide
- Last reviewed
- 2026-07-22
Narrative
The story
The ambition
BlackBerry built the phone that made mobile email work, prized for its physical keyboard and enterprise security. It aimed to keep the business world tethered to its devices.
The rise
Through the late 2000s BlackBerry dominated the US smartphone market and was a status symbol for professionals, selling tens of millions of devices a year.
The cracks
When the iPhone reframed the phone around a touchscreen and an app store, BlackBerry's leadership bet users still preferred keyboards. Its rushed touchscreen answer flopped, and rivals' app ecosystems pulled customers away.
The collapse
Market share fell from dominance toward zero within a few years. In 2016 BlackBerry stopped making its own phones and reinvented itself as a software and security company.
The aftermath
BlackBerry survived by abandoning the product that made its name, pivoting to enterprise software and automotive systems. Its handset era became a textbook case of missing a platform shift.
The lessons
Dominance in the old paradigm is no defence against a new one. When the basis of competition shifts — here, from hardware keyboards to touch and apps — defending what made you great can be exactly what sinks you.
Causal timeline
Failure Anatomy
- 2007
The iPhone reframes the phone
Apple's 2007 iPhone centred phones on touch and apps; BlackBerry dismissed the shift. [1]
Failure to adapt - 2008
The Storm flops
BlackBerry's rushed 2008 touchscreen phone, the Storm, was poorly received. [2]
Poor execution - 2013
Share collapses
As rivals built app ecosystems, BlackBerry's share fell from about 40% toward zero. [3]
Stronger competitor - 2016-09
Quits making phones
In September 2016 BlackBerry announced it would stop making its own phones and focus on software. [4]
Structured analysis
What Went Wrong
Root causes
Dismissed touchscreen and apps. BlackBerry clung to physical keyboards and enterprise use, underestimating the touch-and-apps model the iPhone introduced. [1]
Rivals' app ecosystems. The iPhone and Android drew customers with app stores BlackBerry could not match. [1] [3]
Contributing factors
A botched touchscreen answer. The 2008 BlackBerry Storm, its first touchscreen phone, was poorly received. [2]
Immediate trigger
Collapsing share forces an exit. With share fallen to near zero, BlackBerry stopped making its own phones. [3] [4]
Visible symptoms
Share fell toward zero. BlackBerry's US smartphone share dropped from about 40% to under 1%. [3]
Warning signs
Leadership dismissed the iPhone. BlackBerry initially treated the iPhone's touchscreen as a niche preference rather than a shift. [1]
Affected groups
Evidence
Claims & sources
Every numbered marker in the analysis links to the claim it rests on, and each claim to its sources.
- [1]
BlackBerry's leadership dismissed the iPhone's touchscreen-and-apps model, betting that users preferred physical keyboards.
Moderate Reported explanation BlackBerry Limited — Wikipedia The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again?) of BlackBerry - [2]
BlackBerry's first touchscreen phone, the 2008 Storm, was poorly received.
- [4]
In September 2016 BlackBerry announced it would stop making its own phones and focus on software and services.
Sources
BlackBerry Limited — Wikipedia
Wikipedia
The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again?) of BlackBerry
Harvard Business School Digital Initiative