RIM to Manufacture BlackBerry Smartphones in Malaysia

Posted by By Vernon 2 Min Read July 14, 2011
RIM Malaysia
David Jollimore, Senior Director of Global Manufacturing at RIM, Randolph Mank, High Commissioner of Canada to Malaysia, Dany Bolduc, Vice President of Malaysia at RIM, Douglas Bingeman, Trade Commissioner of Canadian High Commission, and Zabidah Daud, Director of Malaysian Industrial Development Authority have their hands on the BlackBerry Curve 3G smartphones fresh off the assembly line at the new manufacturing plant in Penang, Malaysia.

Research In Motion (RIM), maker of BlackBerry devices, announced that it will manufacture a portfolio of BlackBerry smartphones in Malaysia starting July 2011. No details have been supplied on which models will be manufactured at the Penang plant.

BlackBerry has seen its market leadership position chipped away by the onslaught of Google‘s Android OS and Apple‘s iOS platforms. Based on the latest comScore data on US market share, BlackBerry slipped 4.7 percent, dropping to 25.7 percent during the three months ending April 2011. Google’s Android OS continues to power ahead with a 5.2 increase in its share to reach 36.4 percent. Apple’s share of the market increased 1.23 percent to reach 26 percent during the same period.

RIM Malaysia
David Jollimore, Senior Director of Global Manufacturing at RIM, Randolph Mank, High Commissioner of Canada to Malaysia, Dany Bolduc, Vice President of Malaysia at RIM, Douglas Bingeman, Trade Commissioner of Canadian High Commission, and Zabidah Daud, Director of Malaysian Industrial Development Authority have their hands on the BlackBerry Curve 3G smartphones fresh off the assembly line at the new manufacturing plant in Penang, Malaysia.

At a recent annual shareholders’ meeting, RIM promises seven new BlackBerry smartphones running on their new QNX-powered BlackBerry OS 7 platform. RIM’s long term strategy seems solid despite slipping market share, considering they are spending a lot of time investing in development currently.

Can the former “King of Smartphones” reinvent itself and reclaim its glory days? Can it innovate, keep up with the competition and move forward? We certainly hope so.

Are you a BlackBerry user? What do you think?

Vernon
Vernon
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Vernon is the founder and chief editor of Vernonchan.com. A graphic designer by profession, he has a deep love for technology, cars, gadgets, food, and travel. He tweets too much and is also known as a caffeine bacterium ("life's too short for bad coffee"). Bleeds Blue (go Chelsea FC!) and considers BMW, Porsche, Alfa Romeo cars to have in the garage--hallmarks of a true petrolhead.