BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins is taking aim at Apple this week in a new interview with The Australian Financial Review.
Heins claims that Apple has lost its industry-leading momentum as the source of smartphone innovation.
Blasting Apple’s iPhone user interface as “outdated,” Heins says BlackBerry’s Z10 and even Samsung’s Galaxy S4 have surpassed the iPhone in mobile hardware and software design.
“Apple did a fantastic job in bringing touch devices to market… They did a fantastic job with the user interface, they are a design icon. There is a reason why they were so successful, and we actually have to admit this and respect that,” Heins says.
“The rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don’t innovate at that speed, you can be replaced pretty quickly. The user interface on the iPhone, with all due respect for what this invention was all about, is now five years old,” he adds.
Heins believes the new BlackBerry 10 mobile operating system is superior to iOS because it enables users to run multiple apps simultaneously in a multitasking exercise matched only by the desktop experience.
“The point is that you can never stand still,” Heins concludes. “It is true for us as well. Launching BB10 just put us on the starting grid of the wider mobile computing grand prix, and now we need to win it.”
