The RIM challenge
Is the BlackBerry maker in the last chance saloon?
The rumours have been flying around about RIM for a while now, with the most recent one being that the firm is set to license its new BlackBerry 10 (BB10) operating system to other manufacturers.
Chief executive Thorsten Heins was quoted in numerous organs saying how the BB10 platform can be licensed out.
It is common knowledge that the firm is desperate to reverse its ailing fortunes - what was once the golden child of the smartphone age has lost a lot of its shine as its market share was repeatedly eaten up by rivals Apple and Samsung.
With Microsoft well and truly on the scene now with its Windows Phone 8 - there are even more players that want to devour BlackBerry once and for all.
The Canadian vendor has been dogged by negative stories of job cuts, management changes and even a new chief, but is not prepared to lie down just yet. It has even been the subject of acquisition speculation, with Samsung and IBM rumoured to have been sniffing around.
Licensing out its operating system could well be the right move - but in my humble opinion it needed to have done this a few years ago - when it still had the edge on the market.
Many hardware manufacturers will already have pledged allegiance to either Android or Windows OS' and obviously Apple stands alone.
With the latest iteration of the iPhone due out at some point this year to send the fanboys into a frenzy - and the Windows Phone 8 release due this year -along with countless other releases from all the other smartphone players, I'm not sure if RIM's move is basically shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.
However, whatever happens in the future, the RIM experience should serve as a lesson to any vendor out there who is top of their tree.
Take your eye off the ball for just a short while and this is the predicament you will find yourself in as your competition overtakes you.There is no shortage of rivals waiting in the wings.
I hope RIM makes it and proves all the naysayers wrong, and is not actually in the last chance saloon at all.