Blackberry Ltd. has unveiled its first device in just about two years: the Passport. Blackberry’s business decisions have long since stopped making sense to me (and I’ve been a follower of Blackberry for as long as I can remember), but their decision to release this particular phone, at this particular time was downright confounding.

AFP PHOTO / CARL COURT

Their announcement of the Passport comes only a few weeks after a major product launch by dominant competitor, Apple Inc. These competitor devices will effectively dilute Blackberry’s market share, and because a substitute device is available, sales of the Passbook. While release dates may not be entirely controllable by Blackberry, Apple has historically followed a consistent, predictable release pattern, and had Blackberry anticipated this and unveiled their devices just a month or two earlier, Blackberry would have likely sold more products, thus mitigating this issue.

Blackberry’s Passport retains the original Blackberry DNA that has historically allowed Blackberry to dominate the mobile phone industry. However, consumer tastes have since shifted. Blackberry’s signature physical keyboard, is appealing only to the legacy users, who have become accustomed to the feel. The square design of the screen, however slick, is unappealing to media consumers who would prefer the more standard 16:9 aspect ratio. Blackberry is effectively diminishing its customer segments by sticking to outdated value propositions.

CEO John Chen claims that Blackberry is still “very much alive”, I am inclined to disagree. Blackberry is wasting away on a hospital bed, in decline.