So it turns out that RIM was completely, utterly caught off guard when the original Apple iPhone was released in 2007:
RIM had a complete internal panic when Apple unveiled the iPhone in 2007, a former employee revealed this weekend. The BlackBerry maker is now known to have held multiple all-hands meetings on January 10 that year, a day after the iPhone was on stage, and to have made outlandish claims about its features. Apple was effectively accused of lying as it was supposedly impossible that a device could have such a large touchscreen but still get a usable lifespan away from a power outlet.
RIM’s reaction? The equivalent of a panic pick when the time is running out during the 3rd round of your Fantasy Football draft: The RIM Storm, which hit the market two years later and clearly not started until after the iPhone release.