BlackBerry Limited (formerly Research In Motion) is a Canadian software company specializing in cybersecurity. Founded in 1984, it originally developed the BlackBerry brand of interactive pagers, smartphones and tablets. In 2016, it transitioned to a cybersecurity enterprise software and services company under CEO John S. Chen. Its products are used by various businesses, car manufacturers, and government agencies to prevent hacking and ransomware attacks. They include the BlackBerry Cylance, the QNX real-time operating system; BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BlackBerry Unified Endpoint Manager), and a Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) platform.
History
1984–2001: early years and growth
Research In Motion Limited was founded in March 1984 by Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin. At the time, Lazaridis was an engineering student at the University of Waterloo while Fregin was an engineering student at the University of Windsor. In 1988, RIM became the first wireless data technology developer in North America and the first company outside Scandinavia to develop connectivity products for Mobitex wireless packet-switched data communications networks. Mobitex's wireless data transport also became RIM's first wireless data service that powered the Blackberry and Palm devices until it was phased out. In 1990, RIM introduced the DigiSync Film KeyKode Reader. In 1991, it introduced the first Mobitex protocol converter. In 1992, it introduced the first Mobitex point-of-sale solution, a protocol converter box that interfaced with existing point-of-sale terminal equipment to enable wireless communication. In 1993, it introduced the RIMGate, the first general-purpose Mobitex X.25 gateway. In the same year, it launched Ericsson Mobidem AT and Intel wireless modems containing RIM modem firmware. In 1994, it introduced the first Mobitex mobile point-of-sale terminal. In the same year, it received the Emmy Award for Technical Innovation and the KPMG High Technology Award. In 1995, it introduced Freedom, the first Type II PCMCIA radio modem for Mobitex.
In 1995, RIM was financed by Canadian institutional and venture capital investors through a private placement in the privately held company. Working Ventures Canadian Fund Inc. led the first venture round with a C$5,000,000 investment with the proceeds being used to complete the development of RIM's two-way paging system hardware and software. A total of C$30,000,000 in pre-IPO financing was raised by the company prior to its initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange in January 1998 under the symbol RIM.
In 1996, RIM introduced the Interactive Pager, the first two-way messaging pager, and the RIM 900 OEM radio modem. The company developed the pager prototype with the support of Intel Corporation. The company worked with RAM Mobile Data and Ericsson to turn the Ericsson-developed Mobitex wireless data network into a two-way paging and wireless e-mail network. Pivotal in this development was the release of the Inter@ctive Pager 950. In August 1997, a prototype was presented to BellSouth executives, who were impressed with the device and agreed to a $70-million deal that involved the supply of 100,000 devices. The pager started shipping in August 1998. About the size of a bar of soap, this device competed against the Skytel two-way paging network developed by Motorola.
In 1999, RIM introduced the BlackBerry 850 pager. This was also the first device to use the Blackberry OS. Named after its keyboard's similarity to the druplets of the blackberry fruit, the device could receive push email from a Microsoft Exchange Server using its complementary server software, BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). Its introduction set the stage for the company's future enterprise-oriented products, such as the BlackBerry 957 in April 2000, the first BlackBerry smartphone. The BlackBerry OS platform and BES continued to increase in functionality, while the incorporation of encryption and S/MIME support helped BlackBerry devices gain increased usage by governments and businesses. During fiscal 1999-2001, RIM's assets grew eight-fold due to massive capacity expansion.
2001–2011: global expansion and competition
RIM soon began to introduce BlackBerry devices for the consumer market as well, beginning with the BlackBerry Pearl 8100the first BlackBerry phone to include multimedia features such as a camera. The Pearl series was highly successful, as was the subsequent Curve 8300 and Bold 9000 series. Extensive carrier partnerships fuelled the rapid expansion of BlackBerry users globally in both enterprise and consumer markets.