The BlackBerry e-mail device is coming to China in the next few months. By then, thousands of Chinese may already be checking their e-mail on the new "Redberry."
The Redberry is not a new version of the BlackBerry that's been designed by Research in Motion Ltd for the Chinese market. It's the name being used by two unaffiliated Chinese companies selling a BlackBerry-like service on a non-BlackBerry mobile device.
And it's yet another example of how the Chinese market is still more like the Wild West than Western-style capitalism, regardless of Chinese President Hu Jintao's (
The ploy of exploiting BlackBerry's brand recognition is all the more bizarre -- RIM's chief executive called it "weird" in an interview -- because of the two companies involved. One, not so surprisingly, is a pugnacious start-up. But the other is China Unicom Ltd (中國聯合通信), whose majority owner is none other than the Chinese government.
There's another odd wrinkle. There are only two big cellphone companies serving China, both of them state-controlled but publicly traded. China Unicom is the wireless carrier offering "Uni PushMail," the new BlackBerry-like mobile e-mail service. The other carrier, China Mobile Ltd (中國移動通信), just happens to be RIM's partner in bringing the BlackBerry to China.
To review, then, one state-controlled company is angling to get a few months head start on another state-run company by playing on the name recognition of BlackBerry. On one level, this might sound impressive since the two rivals appear to be competing as you'd hope they would in a free market. But the obvious infringement on BlackBerry's trademark is so sophomoric that no company would bother trying it anywhere but in a nation with dubious legal protections.
"It's a strange marketing plan," Jim Balsillie, co-CEO at Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM, said in an interview. "It's kind of brazen, this kind of poke in the eye by China Unicom at China Mobile."
Facio Software Inc (網際飛潮), founded by a Microsoft Corp veteran named Tony Chan, boasts on its Web site that "We are the Redberry." and that its service is available "before RIM's BlackBerry."
In a press release, Chan was quoted as saying, "The Redberry is not afraid, neither did David fear Goliath."
China Unicom does not appear to be officially promoting the Redberry nickname, but also has done nothing to force its new partner to tone down. Instead, in a statement to Business Week, the company seems to rejoice in the infringement, saying "China Unicom's Redberry brand not only continues the already familiar `BlackBerry' image and name, it also fully reflects the symbolic meaning of China Unicom's new red corporate logo."
China Unicom did not respond to a request for comment.
RIM, like numerous technology companies, isn't about to provoke the Chinese government with a public complaint.
"China has it's own gestation cycle and you work with it and respect it," Balsillie said, allowing only that a matter as "silly" as the Redberry might serve as a "nice test case" to see "what kind of remedies available through the system there are."
That non-confrontational approach does not have the same broader implications as similar stances taken by Google Inc, Yahoo Inc and Microsoft, which have complied with Chinese censorship demands.
While those three have more leverage than they admit, it would be naive to expect them to shun the emerging Chinese market for technology products and services. Likewise, it should be clear that such companies will not be leading the push for reform in China.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from