Q Case study reports provide valuable opportunities to reinforce class learning. It is strongly recommended that all team members read the case, discuss it as a group, and reflect upon the business implications of the issues raised in the readings. You should work with your group to create a Case Study Report, which should include the following: • One major takeaway from the broad questions asked on the M2: Case Study Overview (Link will open in new tab.) page (what you learned from studying the case) • Show how you used two concepts, one from each reading assigned for this case, to analyze the case. You can locate the articles on the M2: Readings page. • Sharp and thoughtful responses to all of the following questions: o Explain the components of a multi-sided market for smart phone ecosystem? o Who needs more attention from RIM: app developers or end users? Which will have a greater impact on attracting the other (the chicken-and-egg problem)? o What is meant by “open” vs. “closed” architecture? o What specific actions should RIM take to better address the complement-maker side of the mobile OS market? You may consider some of the actions below: • Make the operating system more developer-friendly • Subsidize the development of apps • Use in-house developers to fill in gaps where needed • Consider paying for the exclusivity of potentially popular applications • Make BlackBerry OS compatible with other operating systems (e.g., Android) o Android-based phones and iPhones have successfully implemented features that have not traditionally been available on BlackBerries. Previous to that, however, RIM incorporated features into BlackBerry that were not previously available in any existing device (Telephone, pager, e-mail, PDA). Blackberry enveloped functionalities found in other devices (phones, pagers, PCs, and PDAs). What additional functionalities have iPhone and/or Android phones added that the Blackberry generally has not? o If RIM were to exit the market, how would consumer welfare be affected? o What would happen if one OS become dominant in the market? o Should RIM seek to compete against the current generation of Android phones and iPhone, or should it instead “skip a generation” and create a device that goes beyond the functionalities of its competitors? If so, what functionalities should it seek to add? o Which long-term options of these three below would you recommend for Rim and why? • Continue to be a market leader, serving all markets. • Become a niche player within the mobile device and mobile OS industry. • Seek to exit the industry through acquisition. o What happens if there is one fewer app developer, one fewer customer, or one fewer platform in the market?