SINGAPORE — Before the day ends today, Research in Motion (RIM) will have revealed the products which it hopes will revive its fortunes: The BlackBerry 10 (BB10) operating system and its handset, the BlackBerry Z10.

But is it too little, too late for a company trying to win back loyalty from those customers who used to be addicted to their ‘crackberries’ but have kicked the habit?

In October last year BlackBerry servers went down for days, which left many users frustrated and disappointed. Millions of users, and hundreds of businesses, deserted BlackBerry for Apple, or Android phones such as Samsung’s Galaxy SIII, or Nokia, according to a Guardian report.

CEO Thorstein Heins realises that he has a huge challenge but recently told German publication Die Welt that he believed RIM’s role in the future will be substantial and that the new software is aimed not only at phones but also for cars. “We have taken the time to build a platform that is future-proof for the next 10 years,” he said.

Some users remain loyal. Ms Abigail Rudd, a student at Exeter University, stuck with her BlackBerry when she renewed her contract because it is more robust than other models. “In addition, the keyboard is great,” she said.

Yet the outflow continues. ComScore, which calculates United States smartphone ownership, reckons that there are now just 9 million BlackBerry users in the US, down from a peak of nearly 22 million in September 2010, while US smartphone ownership has doubled to 123 million.

Analysts are not convinced either.

Mr Benedict Evans, of Enders Analysis, sees BB10 as a last roll of the dice: “The question is, how long can they keep rolling it? How long can they wait for the right numbers? The high-end corporate users are abandoning it.” Mr Evans added that from talking to people in phone shops, it seemed teenagers were keen on rivals with more games apps.

Ms Carolina Milanesi, smartphones analyst at research group Gartner, said the company cannot carry on as before. “This is certainly key to RIM’s survival and indeed BBM is just not enough anymore,” she said.”Even consumers that are price sensitive and who value messaging are looking for more than BlackBerry Messenger.

Mr Jan Dawson, Chief Telecoms Analyst, Ovum thinks RIM will get a boost but not salvation from BB10.

“Two major factors have worked against RIM in the past two years: Companies are no longer buying the majority of smartphones sold today, and individuals overwhelmingly choose devices other than BlackBerries when they make buying decisions. Both of these have depressed sales for RIM’s devices, and neither is going away. The first of these phenomena is unstoppable, and we expect a significant increase in employee-led rather than IT department-led smartphone buying.

“Our recent surveys suggest that even when employees aren’t choosing the device, they expect the replacement for their current BlackBerry to be an iPhone or an Android device. The second trend could be stopped in theory, but RIM does not seem to be focusing on this approach in BB10,” said Mr Dawson.

Then there is the uphill struggle regarding apps. Even though BlackBerry was able to add 15,000 apps in just one weekend during their Port-A-Thon, and a further 19,000 apps after its deadline was extended, it still pales in comparison to Apple’s reported 700,000 apps by technology publication PC World. The report added that Google’s Android may surpass that and breach the 1 million mark by June. A report by tech website digitaltrends.com said Mr Heins promised 70,000 apps will be ready by its BB10 launch tomorrow.

I’ve had a sneak peek at the BB10 OS late last year and while it did not blow me away, it did have some saving graces. For example, I think a lot of Chief Information Officers in multinational companies (or even small, medium ones that value security) will like its BB Balance security feature that separate personal apps, emails, messages from work ones. Apparently, setting it up is easy and when the employee leaves, wiping corporate information on the phone is also a clean affair.

BB Balance brings much to facilitate the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) culture.

According to market researcher IDC’s forecast, there will be 91 million BYOD devices in this year, accounting for 46 per cent of all consumer segment smartphones shipped in Asia-Pacific. “RIM has been slow to react to the changing mobility landscape, where consumer smartphones from the likes of Apple and Samsung have encroached on its core target of enterprise users,” said Mr Ian Song, Research Manager with IDC’s Asia-Pacific Client Devices team.

“However, RIM has a real opportunity to recapture some of its lost enterprise market share with BB10. The new BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 (BES10) is RIM’s new holistic Mobile Enterprise Management (MEM) solution.

“BES10 can manage BB10, legacy BB OS and other popular mobile platforms as well. With RIM’s extensive enterprise mobility management experience, BES10 is likely a much comprehensive MEM solution than the competition.”

While some may express doubts this can save the company, going by the number of people I know personally who hold on to two smartphones — one personal and one from the company (usually a BlackBerry) — you can bet RIM is not about to just roll over and play dead.

Despite the recent fallout with enterprise users, BlackBerry is still the brand to beat in the enterprise space, said Mr Song. According to a recent IDC survey on BYOD in the Asia-Pacific region, BlackBerry ranked as the top device of choice if employees were given a choice to pick one personal device to be used at work.

Yet, when IDC asked what device are the respondents currently use, BlackBerry is ranked below that of Apple and Samsung.

Clearly, BlackBerry still has much brand equity amongst users when it comes to business use, but the brand perception of BlackBerry is that it is only good for business. BB10 is RIM’s best chance to finally transform the BlackBerry brand from a business tool to a do-it-all smartphone. WITH AGENCIES