In 2008, Blackberry released their first touchscreen phone (the Storm). This was a year after Apple had released the first iPhone and it lacked wi-fi support.

This was a shift from the core market that it currently dominated. A handheld device that relied on a QWERTY keyboard for users to access their internet and email.

Once known as a "Crackberry" for their addictive nature and raging popularity, you would have been crazy to think that they would become obsolete as fast as they did. The term "Crackberry" was even recognized by the Webster's New World College Dictionary as the "New Word of the Year" for 2006

But the writing should have been on the wall.

On June 19, 2008 Blackberry's stock price would reach its all-time high at $147.55. It would begin to drop and never recover.

With iOS and Android picking up steam, Blackberry would continue to stumble and lose market share.

What did Blackberry do when face to face against growing competition? Pivot completely.

In 2017, Blackberry "reinvented" themselves as a cyber security company and in January 2022, they "decommissioned the infrastructure and services used by our legacy software and phone operating systems".

BlackBerry's fall from grace serves as a gentle reminder… in the tech world, you're either the freshest fruit (Apple — pun intended) on the tree or you're yesterday's jam.