BlackBerry Storm

2008

The Storm has been called the biggest disaster in smartphone history. BlackBerry phones were very popular for business users. When Apple launched the iPhone, arrogant Blackberry executives stubbornly insisted it was no threat to their highly successful phones. Touch screens would never become popular for business people, they thought.

Realizing their judgment error, the company made a rushed desperate attempt to compete with the iPhone. Besides a frustratingly bad touchscreen, the phone was full of bugs and often crashed. All the Storm phones shipped in 2008 were flawed and needed to be replaced. The Storm’s failure is captured by what employees called it: Shit Storm.

The Wall Street Journal - The Inside Story of How the iPhone Crippled BlackBerry

The Verge - The BlackBerry Storm showed why you should never turn a touchscreen into a button

The Guardian - Review- The Black Berry Storm