It’s been a couple of weeks since my review of the Blackberry Torch 9860. Looking back, I can say that I still like that device. I’ve since seen another recent model – a Bold 9900. It’s a beautifully crafted device – nice steel frame, a thin profile without sharp edges, and a wide face with comfortable physical keys. The 9900 is another testament that RIM knows hardware.

The past couple of weeks has also seen another onslaught of bad news for the company too. It’s looking at writing off half a billion dollars due to it’s slow-selling (or non-selling) Blackberry Playbook. This contributed to a horrible 3rd quarter result for the year. And to add insult to injury, the Amazon Kindle Fire – a device built on the same hardware as the Playbook – is selling like crazy for a third of what RIM initially wanted to sell it’s Playbook.

In this third article of the series, I’ll focus on my putting together my humble advice to the folks at Waterloo.

You make excellent hardware. Now focus on a few of them and make them even better. It seems that you want to be everything to everyone. This strategy doesn’t work. Looking at the current hardware portfolio, there’s too many Bolds, Torches, Curves, Tours and Styles. There are touchscreen only models, keyboard models with touchscreen, folding form factors, small form factors, and some iteration of the above. Of these, only a select few are good devices. The rest seem to be there just so that you can be in a market segment. This is not sustainable. You should focus somehow. For example, divide the market into the high-end and mid-range. Then for each market, offer a touchscreen only device and a classic Blackberry form factor with a keyboard and touchscreen. Having only so many devices in your stable allows you to develop a product more maturely. Devote the research, development and engineering into a few devices so that they are great and not just adequate.

Develop a software platform that is revolutionary, light and extensible. A sluggish OS that is difficult to build on is definitely a non-starter. You’re a pioneer in creating wireless communication technology that did a lot with less. Surely, you can extend this to your latest OS as well. The QNX acquisition puts you in a good position. Can you build your future on it?

On a similar note, consider licensing the Blackberry OS to other hardware manufacturers. This opens up the possibility of having another company make a revolutionary handset that is still called a Blackberry. It could increase your user base and licensing income.

Finally, lure developers at all cost. Pay them if you have to. In the current and future markets, software and their corresponding services will define the adoption and use of mobile devices. If your platform cannot tap into the widest range of software and services, you become irrelevant.

Well, that’s it – my two cents. Whadya think?

Good luck my friend! I hope we can still have another chat next year.