Apple CEO Steve Jobs attacked BlackBerry maker Research In
Motion during his company’s Oct. 18 earnings call. Now the Canadians feel
compelled to strike back–with words, at least.
RIM and Apple combat on two fronts. In the enterprise, the
BlackBerry franchise is attempting to hold its ground against fierce
competition from both the Apple iPhone and Google Android, which have both made
inroads among executives and workers. And RIM is preparing a 7-inch tablet, the
PlayBook, which will face off against Apple’s bestselling iPad.
"For those of us who live outside of Apple’s distortion
field, we know that 7-inch tablets will actually be a big portion of the
market," Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of RIM, wrote
in an Oct. 19 corporate blog posting, "and we know that Adobe Flash support
actually matters to customers who want a real Web experience."
In a move seemingly tailor-made to raise blood pressures in
Cupertino, Balsillie then launched head-on at Apple’s refusal to support Flash.
"While Apple’s attempt to control the ecosystem and maintain a closed platform
may be good for Apple," he wrote, "developers want more options and customers
want to fully access the overwhelming majority of Websites that use Flash."
And then, unsatisfied with that broadside, Balsillie loaded
his cannons with quarterly numbers. "And by the way, RIM has achieved record
shipments for five consecutive quarters and recently shared guidance of
13.8 million – 14.4 million BlackBerry smartphones for the current quarter," he added.
"Apple’s preference to compare its September-ending quarter with RIM’s
August-ending quarter doesn’t tell the whole story."
For more, read the eWeek article Apple’s Jobs Refuted by RIM Co-CEO on Flash, Tablets.
