Blackberry 2012 Annual Report Download - page 19

RIM believes that the following characteristics give the Company a competitive advantage and differentiate its products and services
from those of its competitors:
12
•
B
lackBerry Cloud Infrastructure. The BlackBerry wireless solution uses a push-based architecture where the device is in
constant connection with the network. BlackBerry users are provided with immediate message delivery, which has become the
established industry benchmark and has propelled BBM to become a leading mobile instant communications platform. In
addition, this push-based data delivery has been extended beyond email to other applications, so that the mobile application
development community can take advantage of the push-based architecture inherent in the BlackBerry platform. Other features
of the BlackBerry wireless solution include over-the-air distribution of applications, over-the-air calendar synchronization, over-
the-air software updates, over-the-air folder management, wireless synchronization of deleted messages, enhanced IT
manageability and personal organizer features such as contacts, tasks and memos. RIM also provides a robust corporate
applications platform that masks the complexities of wireless application development by providing an integrated framework
using web-services and object oriented programming tools that provide preconfigured support for end-to-end security and
multi
p
le data trans
p
ort methods.
•
B
alancing IT and Consumer Demands. RIM has consistently developed products that balance end users’ demand for features
with the demands of IT managers for security and manageability. RIM’s focus on business-grade solutions has won RIM a
market-leading role in the enterprise market, while at the same time, BlackBerry continues to be widely embraced by consumers
looking for robust smartphone features including instant messaging, email multimedia, web browsing and enhanced voice
features. RIM also intends to grow its leadership position by offering IT departments tools that support the growing trend of
BYOD to the corporate environment. To capitalize on this market, RIM has introduced products such as BlackBerry Mobile
Fusion and BlackBerry Balance, which give IT departments the ability to securely monitor multiple OS platforms using the
existin
g
RIM infrastructure, as well as securel
y
p
rotect cor
p
orate data on an em
p
lo
y
ee’s
p
ersonal smart
p
hone or tablet.
•
I
ntellectual Property Rights. RIM has sought to protect the technology that it has developed through a combination of patent,
co
py
ri
g
ht and trade secret
p
rotection as well as throu
g
h contractual arran
g
ements.
• Strength of the BlackBerry Brand and Market Awareness. BlackBerry is a globally recognized, trusted smartphone brand and
continues to rank among the most valuable brands worldwide. In certain markets, brand alone is a strong influence on purchase
decision.