The BlackBerry Z10 Is Finally Here, But Is It Too Late?

The BlackBerry Z10, the first phone running the all-new BlackBerry 10 operating system, is finally here. But is it too little too late?

The road for BlackBerry has been a bumpy one, riddled with numerous delays. And while the reviews of the Z10 seem to be fairly positive (CrackBerry has the most extensive Z10 review we’ve ever seen), many believe that it’s just too late to the party.

The problem is that no one’s ever succeeded in turning around a failing smartphone maker. Remember the Palm, anyone? The mobile industry moves fast, and Apple and Android pretty much dominate this space.

BlackBerry’s saving grace used to be the enterprise market, but many corporations have since moved to Droids/iPhones, which actually saves them a considerable amount of money!

To setup your BlackBerry with Outlook and all the bells and whistles, you need the “Enterprise Unlimited Data” plan, which is an extra $40/mo. On top of this, the company itself needs a BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server), which costs money to acquire, maintain, and buy licenses.

Then there’s the issue with apps. Apple and Android have over a million apps each, while RIM says BlackBerry 10 will launch with about 100,000 apps. And while they include the basics (Facebook, Skype, etc), other apps like Instagram and Netflix are missing on BB10.

At the end of the day, BlackBerry has put out a decent phone, but I see them facing an uphill battle trying to convince people to give them another shot. Only time will tell.