WES 2009: RIM CEO Confirms Storm 2 Is On Deck

Speaking to analysts during RIM's Wireless Enterprise Symposium event in Orlando, Research In Motion co-CEO Jim Balsillie noted that the Storm was a great success, and that the company has already planned a touch-based follow up for consumers.I haven't seen hard sales figures of the BlackBerry Storm. The numbers bandied about suggest that more than a million of the devices have been sold. That may be true. However many Storms have seen sold, it's a success in the eyes of RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie. Today he said of the Storm, "that product was a huge success in terms of sales and adoption."

I've been using a Storm for two months now. It is alternately fantastic and utterly maddening. It's been a whole lot better ever since I upgraded to firmware 4.7.0.141. Most end-users (the meek and not-tech-savvy) are probably rocking the original firmware that shipped with the device (4.7.0.76), which was just no good.

Despite the bumpy start seen by the Storm, RIM isn't going to ignore the market. Balsillie noted, ""We see this very large and untapped consumer market. We have next-generation devices with that (touch technology) and the whole roadmap."

We know that the Storm ranked as the third-highest selling device in the U.S. during the first quarter. That's a pretty good indication that it's doing at least "OK". Will it be able to maintain that position as new competitors hit the market?