-Since 1999, Research In Motion or RIM has released several dozen versions of the well-known Blackberry.
Due to its keyboard and data encryption, it found early success with business and government users.
-They were very popular from the get-go.
They can add extra security encryption to the messages, so if you have, you know, sensitive data, they had that extra level security.
-But over the years, mobile experts like CNET's Bonnie Cha says RIM has fallen behind in its innovations.
-Some of their hardware is not up to speed like the new devices that are coming out in terms of processing speed, touch screens and things like that.
-And when it comes to software, Cha says RIM's offerings just can't compete with Apple and Google's operating systems on their mobile devices.
-Camera, the web browser, all those things are just kind of, you know, second tier.
People want really high-end devices that work well, that are easy to use and Blackberry doesn't really have that right now.
-This Blackberry outage could not have come at a worst time
for Research In Motion.
Later this week, Apple will release the iPhone 4S which is sure to be a great temptation to frustrated Blackberry users.
In addition, experts say the future of the company is up for grabs.
-Everyone is kind of questioning what's happening with the co-CEOs, is it time to break that up and bring in some new people or should they be bought out?
That's the question, what is happening.
-Moving forward, experts say the company will need to solidify its identify for future success.
In San Francisco, I'm Kara Tsuboi, CNET.com for CBS News.
