How Patriotic Are Canadians?

The technology sector is complicated and competitive, full of customers with strong opinions and divided loyalties. Is patriotism a factor when it comes to technology selection?  It may be.

Consider Research in Motion (“RIM”). Long the darling of the Canadian technology sector, RIM’s aging BlackBerry smartphone units lost ground in the mobile device market over the past couple of years. However, RIM now appears poised to win back some of its lost market share with their BlackBerry 10 release. As reported by Iain Marlow in his January 21st, 2013 Globe and Mail article, RIM has seen a steady rise in popularity ahead of the launch of its new BlackBerry 10 smartphones (coming to a store near you on January 30th, 2013). Financial analysts, investors and recent company announcements has generated considerable interest in the BlackBerry 10 smartphone. RIM’s share prices have climbed from just over $6.00 per share in late September to over $17.00 per share this week.

Marlow writes that the overall sentiment is the BlackBerry 10 promises to be a very solid product, one that will stabilize the business and allow RIM to compete with the sleek phones from Apple and Samsung.

​Ultimately, will patriotism play a factor in RIM’s recovery?  Perhaps. Many Canadians believe in supporting local Canadian companies. Those of us who have held on to our BlackBerry devices in support of RIM may reap the rewards of our loyalty in less than a week. Will the hundreds of thousands of patriotic Canadians who love their QWERTY Keyboard (to follow in later releases of BlackBerry 10) and BlackBerry Messenger be enough to give RIM the push it needs to regain its once heralded place in the smartphone market …. Only time will tell.