While the BlackBerry Tour 9630 may be the latest and greatest of the BlackBerry line, analyst Jeff Kagan doesn't think it's enough to ward off the competition.
"The BlackBerry has not been reinvented in years. The new devices, like the Bold and the Storm, are better than previous versions with many features, and they have shown strong growth over the last six months; however, during the last month or two, that is slowing," Kagan said, citing the recent releases of the iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre as possible reasons for lagging BlackBerry sales.
"The Apple iPhone and the Palm Pre are reinventing the industry with many features. I have not seen that kind of advance from the BlackBerry line," Kagan said.
The Tour, available through Verizon Wireless and Sprint, comes in two different models that sell for the same price (with and without a camera). Most notable, neither version has Wi-Fi. While the physical specs are an almost identical match to those of the Storm, the Tour does not have a touch screen.
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) is seen as the king of OEMs in the enterprise space, offering top-notch e-mail and security, but many think it's time for RIM to start broadening its demographic and begin innovating more for the consumer space.
"I think RIM is facing an important moment as the industry continues to change and mature. We have not seen anything earth-shaking coming out of RIM in a while," Kagan said.
But he doesn't count RIM out. "They have too many happy business customers. However, for growth, they have to stay hot and right now they are not. Perhaps they are working on some hot new technology and we will see it soon."