Company allows cloning of its 'smart phone' chipset

NEW YORK - The emergence of new &#34;smart phones&#34; with e-mail and voice capabilities will likely get a boost by clones of the popular BlackBerry wireless e-mail devices.<br> <br> Research in Motion Ltd., of Waterloo, Ontario, announced Thursday that it would license the blueprints for its BlackBerry hardware and Java-based software to developers interested in cloning them.<br> <br> &#34;It means we give the (other manufacturers) all they need to make a device,&#34; said Jim Balsille, RIM&#39;s chairman and co-chief executive.<br> <br> Beyond simply selling its technology to other vendors, RIM said it will help test and certify its competitors&#39; versions of the BlackBerry, and even provide them with the same wireless-capable chipset that was custom-designed for RIM&#39;s pager-like devices.<br> <br> Analog Devices Inc. of Norwood, Mass. makes the Java-based chipset used in RIM&#39;s BlackBerries, which are most popular with traveling executives who use them to connect to their corporate e-mail accounts, typing messages on tiny thumb keyboards.<br> <br> With other companies moving into RIM&#39;s lucrative market, Balsille said his company faced the choice of either competing with devices that operate on a separate, closed platform, or sharing the BlackBerry technology with its competitors in order to gain so-called network efficiencies, which make devices attractive because they interoperate on identical platforms.<br> <br> &#34;For us, it&#39;s a big letting-go pass,&#34; Balsille said. &#34;We use to drive this market, now we aim it.&#34;<br> <br> With its latest BlackBerry, the 5810 - which bundles wireless e-mail with a phone and personal organizer - RIM is bumping up against the market for new smart phones made by Nokia and others.<br> <br> &#34;This is supposed to be a big and growing market,&#34; Balsille said. &#34;If we can get a reasonable share that would be a superlative success story.&#34;<br> <br> But that market is already jammed with a slew of device manufacturers competing for shrinking margins, said Gartner Inc. wireless analyst Phillip Redman.<br> <br> A RIM cloner would be at an immediate disadvantage because of the additional fees RIM will charge to share its technology, Redman said.<br> <br> &#34;I don&#39;t see the huge advantage for a manufacturer to pursue RIM licensing,&#34; Redman said. &#34;Is there room for a RIM wannabe? The market&#39;s getting very saturated already.&#34;<br> <br> As of Nov. 2001, there were some 300,000 BlackBerry subscribers on approximately 1 million RIM devices worldwide, Redman said.<br> <br> Although Balsille declined to mention which manufacturers were interested in offering the first cloned BlackBerries, he said the two dozen device manufacturers already using Analog Devices&#39; SoftFone microprocessors were the likeliest candidates. RIM said it is already negotiating with interested manufacturers.<br> <br> Analog Devices spokeswoman Colleen Cronin said Compaq Computer uses the chipset in its iPAQ handheld computer and Novatel Wireless uses them in its wireless modems.<br> <br> Cronin said Analog Devices cannot disclose names of &#34;dozens&#34; of other customers who may be interested in cloning the BlackBerry and competing with RIM.<br> <br> Is RIM ready to compete with cloned BlackBerries?<br> <br> &#34;If we can&#39;t then we shouldn&#39;t be in the market,&#34; Balsille said. &#34;We&#39;ve decided we&#39;re ready and the market&#39;s ready.&#34;<br> <br> RIM&#39;s stock climbed by 41 cents, to $26.40, in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Analog Devices&#39; stock also inched up 15 cents, to $42.47, on the New York Stock Exchange. <br> <br>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/4/196426