Blackberry and Secusmart: ill-timed and ill-conceived?

The sun has well and truly set on RIM. The once dominant OEM has floundered since the introduction of the i-Phone in 2007 and is now desperately looking for ways to stay relevant.

With failed ventures into tablets and other mobile variations, the latest foray comes in the form of an acquisition in the voice encryption space with German-based Secusmart. The idea here is that governments and industry will have renewed fears about data and voice call security in the aftermath of the Snowden debacle and that Secusmart, known recently for its anti-eavesdropping software, will become a core component of BlackBerry's highly lauded security portfolio.

There's no doubt that there's strategic value in the sector . Where the emphasis in the past was firmly on data, going forward, the market looks to be shifting decisively towards voice protection, particularly in the enterprise space. The question however on everybody's mind is whether the move has simply come too late in the day.

RIM's market erosion began in the US, but over time, it has spread throughout the world and even in once BlackBerry strongholds like Germany, they've lost out to other smartphones mostly from Samsung and Apple.

It remains to be seen what the future holds for BB, but whatever the world looks like in 10 years from now, the consensus seems to suggest that it wont include the once poster boy of mobile communications.

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http://www.zdnet.com/blackberry-acquires-secusmart-ups-voice-security-ante-7000032086/

http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/29/blackberry-snags-german-voice-encryption-firm-secusmart-but-years-too-late/