Former RIM CEO Finally Admits iPhone Killed The BlackBerry

This week, former co-CEO of RIM, Jim Basillie, gave his first public interview since leaving the company. In an interview with Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcof, the authors of Losing the Signal. The Spectacular Rise and Fall of BlackBerry, he admitted that the death of BlackBerry was caused by being unable to compete with the iPhone (duh) and the rushed release of the BlackBerry Storm. In other words: he finally gets the picture.

According to Basillie, the buggy-as-all-hell BlackBerry Storm had a “100 percent return rate” and eventually led to Verizon “firing” BlackBerry. The carrier was BlackBerry’s biggest customer at the time.

However, the delusion isn’t all gone: Balsillie still uses a BlackBerry Bold on a daily basis.

Check out the Associated Press’ coverage for more info.

Image Source: Enrique Dans

Andrew is a geek, Apple enthusiast, blogger and coffee lover from Chicago.