RIM: “customers are getting tired of being told what to think by Apple”

The last time Apple CEO Steve Jobs ripped into RIM was the famed “Antennagate” episode and stated that even RIM devices have reception issues. The next day Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at RIM stated that “Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable”.

Yesterday, Steve Jobs once again spoke about how they have “now passed RIM. And I don’t see them catching up with us in the foreseeable future. They must move beyond their comfort area into the unfamiliar territory in trying to become a software platform company. I think it’s going to be a challenge for them to create a competitive platform and to convince developers to create apps for yet a third platform after iOS and Android.”

Well, Balsillie is a man that stands his ground and has stated the following:

“For those of us who live outside of Apple’s distortion field, we know that 7″ tablets will actually be a big portion of the market and we know that Adobe Flash support actually matters to customers who want a real web experience. We also know that while Apple’s attempt to control the ecosystem and maintain a closed platform may be good for Apple, developers want more options and customers want to fully access the overwhelming majority of web sites that use Flash. We think many customers are getting tired of being told what to think by Apple. And by the way, RIM has achieved record shipments for five consecutive quarters and recently shared guidance of 13.8 – 14.4 million BlackBerry smartphones for the current quarter. Apple’s preference to compare its September-ending quarter with RIM’s August-ending quarter doesn’t tell the whole story because it doesn’t take into account that industry demand in September is typically stronger than summer months, nor does it explain why Apple only shipped 8.4 million devices in its prior quarter and whether Apple’s Q4 results were padded by unfulfilled Q3 customer demand and channel orders. As usual, whether the subject is antennas, Flash or shipments, there is more to the story and sooner or later, even people inside the distortion field will begin to resent being told half a story.”

Source: CrackBerry