BlackBerry CEO Calls iOS Outdated

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In an interview, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins dismissed iOS as outdated while hailing BlackBerry 10’s multitasking features. Some observers find it ironic that Heins is faulting Apple for its failure to innovate, because BlackBerry’s failure to innovate has caused it to fall far behind its competitors in terms of market share.

The Australian Financial Review carried the original interview, quoting Heins as saying, “Apple did a fantastic job in bringing touch devices to market … They did a fantastic job with the user interface, they are a design icon. There is a reason why they were so successful, and we actually have to admit this and respect that.” He continued, “History repeats itself again I guess … the rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don’t innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly. The user interface on the iPhone, with all due respect for what this invention was all about is now five years old.”

The Wall Street Journal’s Will Conners noted, “The comments are especially making waves this morning because most analysts — and even Mr. Heins himself — have cited a slow pace of innovation as a key reason for RIM’s slide from smartphone leader to its current position as an also-ran.”

DailyTech’s Tiffany Kaiser added, “Heins went on to say that his company’s own BlackBerry 10 smartphones surpass the iPhone in one way especially — multi-tasking. He said BB10 phones can run multiple apps much like a laptop while the iPhone seems to lack in that area. ‘The point is that you can never stand still,’ said Heins. ‘It is true for us as well. Launching BB10 just put us on the starting grid of the wider mobile computing grand prix, and now we need to win it.'”

PCMag’s Angela Moscaritolo noted, “But the Waterloo, Ontario-based phone maker is still playing catch up to Apple and Google’s Android when it comes to one important area — apps. Heins said he expects 100,000 apps to be available for the Z10 at launch, well below the number currently available in Apple’s App Store and Google Play. The Z10 will go on sale through AT&T beginning this Friday, and at Verizon starting March 28.”