Waterloo Mayor: Every Single Canadian Should be Looking for Ways to Support RIM
On a day when the country’s biggest technology company announced 5,000 job cuts and the postponement of BB10 until 2013, Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran (pictured with RIM’s Mike Lazaridis) said “every single Canadian” should be looking for ways to support Research In Motion.
Halloran is quoted in the Globe and Mail saying, “I think we need to be supportive as Canadians. I think every single Canadian should be buying Canadian technology. We need to remember they need our support and rally around them and continue to use their products.”
Unfortunately resurrecting BlackBerry’s “cool factor” to lure the next generation of smartphone buyers seems unlikely.
Interest in purchasing a BlackBerry has diminished tremendously in North America, even in Canada, where RIM products have managed to remain popular due to patriotism and support of the local economy. According to new data from Toronto analytics firm Solutions Research, just 12% of Canadians under 24 plan to make a BlackBerry their next smartphone.
That number was more than 30% just one year ago, signalling a shockingly rapid shift in how youth perceive RIM’s devices. According to ComScore, BlackBerry ownership among teenagers in Canada has plunged 39% in the past year. In the US, the situation is darker still: only 9% of all smartphone users will buy another BlackBerry, and only 6% of youth intend to do so.
