MJ Industries

Once a symbol of innovation and status, BlackBerry was the smartphone pioneer that defined mobile communication in the early 2000s. With its iconic QWERTY keyboard and unmatched security features, it dominated the global market and became the device of choice for business professionals, celebrities, and even world leaders. But by the end of the 2010s, BlackBerry had all but vanished from the consumer tech landscape. This is the story of BlackBerry—how it soared to greatness and why it ultimately fell. Humble Beginnings: The Birth of BlackBerry BlackBerry's story began in 1984, when two engineering students, Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin, founded Research In Motion (RIM) in Waterloo, Canada. Initially, RIM focused on developing wireless technologies and pagers. The company made a major breakthrough in 1999 with the launch of the BlackBerry 850 , a two-way pager that allowed users to send and receive emails—something revolutionary at the time. The device quickly evolved into a fu...