RIM (almost) denies anonymous report about BlackBerry 10 delay

Rich Fiscus
27 Dec 2011 13:32

Last week we told you about an anonymous source, supposedly from inside RIM, who claimed the delayed launch of the upcoming BlackBerry 10 line of devices was largely the result of unfinished software.
This source told Boy Genius Report the new OS is still a work in progress, and doesn't even have working email or BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) clients. This was in response to an earlier statement by RIM Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis blaming the delay of primarily on a processor availability problem.
A RIM representative contacted us with a statement saying:

RIM made a strategic decision to launch BlackBerry 10 devices with a new, LTE-based dual core chip set architecture. As explained on our earnings call, the broad engineering impact of this decision and certain other factors significantly influenced the anticipated timing for the BlackBerry 10 devices. The anonymous claim suggesting otherwise is inaccurate and uninformed. As RIM has previously explained, and as Mike Lazaridis reiterated on the earnings call, we will not launch BlackBerry 10 devices until we know they are ready and we believe this new chip set architecture is required to deliver the world class user experience that our customers will expect. Any suggestion to the contrary is simply false.

But if you look a little closer at this statement, there's no denial of the alleged software problems, which would seem to qualify as "other factors." In fact, if you combine the initial statement from Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis with his response to an analyst during the Q&A session, there are indications there are software problems.
Initially Lazaridis said:

The processor we selected offers industry-leading power and efficiency. It also allows us to deliver the industrial design that we believe is critical to the success in this market segment. This chipset will not be available until mid-2012, and as a result of this and certain other factors, we now expect our first BlackBerry 10 smartphones to reach market in the latter part of calendar 2012.

Notice he also said the delay is a result of both chipset availability "and other factors." When pressed for details about the sudden announcement of a delay, which wasn't anticipated previously, he added:

We decided to use a highly integrated chipset that's not available 'til the new year in production. So we've designed - we've been using that chipset so we could have a much more aggressive industrial design to the product and better power and efficiency. And because of that and just making sure that we had to then port that new platform, we've experienced a delay.

Read that statement closely and you will see a key phrase which seems to indicate software problems. He admitted one of the issues being addressed is porting software. That would seem to suggest they may be having a hard time getting features from previous BlackBerry OS versions to work on BlackBerry 10.
In fact, that is the key point BGR's source seemed to be making, with the additional claim that switching processors was just a smokescreen. Of course it is also possible there is a pressing power problem which would prevent RIM from releasing the new devices. Read just about any review of a current generation LTE smartphone and you will find complaints about power consumption.
Even if that is true, though, it seems like a bizarre reason to delay the platform launch. RIM's entire future may depend on BlackBerry 10's success. If, indeed, BGR's report isn't true, it begs the question of what the company's executives are thinking.
We welcome any clarification from RIM which addresses the allegations.