BlackBerry Torch: No “X” Factor?

It may be premature to call it a flop, but the chances of RIM’s new BlackBerry Torch 9800 of becoming a big hit apparently are not looking good.

Launched last Thursday in the U.S., the BlackBerry Torch was seen as Research In Motion’s major push to attract new customers and stop losing ground to competitors. While the BlackBerry remains popular in corporate culture, it’s increasingly being outshined by the high-profile devices coming from Apple and the fleet of Android manufacturers. Most analyses of mobile phone market share show BlackBerry’s slice of the pie steadily eroding as a result.

It is unfortunate for RIM that this notion of the BlackBerry Torch reversing this trend may be as strange as it sounds, is its lack of sexiness or an “X” Factor. Back when buzz was first building about the BlackBerry Torch, RIM’s challenge was to find a way to make the phone sexy or to give it that “X-factor” that Apple and Android devices possess. Surely being reliable and secure are important assets but there also areas where the competition is steadily improving and they alone aren’t enough to make a phone a serious contender in today’s mobile industry.

RIM’s BlackBerry Torch and its OS needed to win us and to make us to start thinking about RIM as a headline rather than a footnote in the smartphones arena. For satisfied BlackBerry users, the Torch may be a step up but it isn’t enough to win over new masses and gain widespread consumer appeal. About fifty-eight percent are thinking about switching to another smartphone platform — double the figure measured among Android owners and more than five times that of the Apple crowd.

Early sales estimates show the Torch selling about 150,000 devices over its opening weekend which a figure The Wall Street Journal describes as unimpressive, particularly in comparison with other recent smartphone launches. On the other hand, though, RIM needed to make a big splash with this device and drum up enthusiasm beyond its committed clientele.

RIM’s BlackBerry Torch may be sturdy, it may be a step up from its predecessor — but not sure sexy enough. And it isn’t going to stop users from finding out better alternatives that are.