BlackBerry CEO Heins: Apple iPhone UI is old, shows lack of innovation

Like the former 98 pound weakling who has buffed up and goes after the bully that had been kicking sand in his face, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins attacked the Apple iPhone in an interview with the Australian Financial Review. The executive told the paper that last week's introduction of the Samsung Galaxy S 4 and the recent introduction of other top-shelf models, has revealed that the Apple iPhone has lost much of the large lead it had in the smartphone market.

Pulling no punches, Heins said that the rate of innovation in the industry is so high that if you don't catch up, you can be replaced. And as if to make sure that his target was clear, he noted that iOS is over 5 years old. Pointing out that BlackBerry 10 offers users a better multi-tasking experience than iOS, Heins made it clear that if his company doesn't innovate, it too can find itself losing buyers. "Launching BB10 just put us on the starting grid of the wider mobile computing grand prix, and now we need to win it," said the CEO.


Turning to the BlackBerry Z10, Heins said that BlackBerry World will be stuffed with 100,000 apps by the time that the device launches in the U.S. He also said that negotiations are taking place with Instagram and Netflix to get both of them to develop an app for BlackBerry 10. Previously, both sites have said that they would not be offering BB10 apps, but Heins said, "We are working constantly on getting these important apps on board."

As far as BlackBerry Z10 is concerned, Heins said that he could not talk about sales because of the quiet period that precedes the company's quarterly report, but did add that BlackBerry has been pleasantly surprised with the number of BlackBerry Z10 buyers that came from other platforms.

source: FinancialReview