Blackberry (formerly "Research In Motion")

[freedom]

I always welcome counter argument to make my investment thesis more rational and sane. Thank you for participation.

A lot of bearish investors think BB10 must be a hit(also comparing to Apple, they seem unable to realize that Apple is at least 50 times larger than RIM) to be successful. They are blind that RIM would be worth US$20 even if it is just a moderate success.

[CityFarmer]

RIM shares rise to 13-month high on strategic review hopes

TORONTO — Shares of Research In Motion yesterday surged to a 13-month high after its Chief Executive said the company may consider strategic alliances with other companies after the launch of devices powered by RIM’s new BlackBerry 10 operating system.

In an interview with a German newspaper yesterday, Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said RIM’s ongoing review could potentially lead to the sale of its handset business or the licensing of its software to rival smartphone companies.

“The main thing for now is to successfully introduce Blackberry 10. Then we’ll see,” he said.
-- TODAYonline

http://www.todayonline.com/tech/rim-shar...view-hopes

[CityFarmer]

Good or bad news?

RIM shares rise on reports of Lenovo interest

TORONTO — Shares of Research In Motion (RIM) rose 3 per cent yesterday after a report quoted China’s Lenovo Group as saying a bid for the BlackBerry maker was among the options for boosting its mobile business.

“We are looking at all opportunities — RIM and many others,” Lenovo Chief Financial Officer Wong Wai Ming said at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

http://www.todayonline.com/business/rim-...o-interest

[CityFarmer]

RIM renamed BlackBerry, new smartphones unveiled

NEW YORK - Research In Motion today unveiled a long-delayed line of smartphones it says will put the company on the comeback trail in a market it once dominated, promising its BlackBerry 10 devices will wow consumers and businesses alike when they hit stores.

Signalling his hopes for a fresh start for the company that pioneered on-your-hip email, Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins said RIM was abandoning the name it has used since its inception in 1985. From now on, he told tech analysts and other guests, the company will just be known as BlackBerry.

http://www.todayonline.com/tech/gadgets/...s-unveiled

[KopiKat]

Extracts from Lim & Tan report today (pg 3),

 RIM, the second largest customer of Hi-P (down from the largest last year) fell another 13.6% last night after having already fallen 13% in the past 2 days as investors were disappointed that the company’s new smart-phones resembled that of Apple as well as Google’s Andriod smart-phones.

 And the Blackberry 10 operating system that RIM uses has only 70,000 applications, which is much fewer than Apple and Google’s 300,000+.

 The only positives are the user-replaceable battery packs, MicroSD slot to augment the 16G of storage capacity and firewalls for their emails.

 In general, US analysts’ quoted opined that they do not think it will be able to upset the 90+% market share of Apple and Google’s smart-phones.

 While RIM was Hi-P’s largest customer in the past 2 years its importance has been reduced (now 2nd largest after Apple) due to the repeated delays in the new product launch as well as persistent loss in market share in the past 2 years to (only 3-4% currently).

 As a result, Hi-P’s share price in the past year has tracked Apple more closely with both company share prices down 35% since peaking in Sept ’12.

[Wildreamz]

Having seen the z10, my opinion of the Blackberry OS haven't changed.

Some thoughts:

1) Steep learning curve.

Very different and unintuitive (even difficult) operating procedure for simple functions, specifically the notification and the multitasking.

This might alienate average users.

2) Lack of Apps

No surprise, it takes time and lots developer's support. Lack of consumer support of a platform will lead to poor developer support. It is a vicious cycle. And arguably a strong moat in favour of Android and iOS.

This tend to alienate more tech-savvy users.

3) High Price Tag

In line with iPhone and high end Android phone, but much higher than the many budget Android smartphones out there.

This might not be too receptive among price sensitive users (especially the Asian market).

4) Poor Battery Life

It has a 355ppi screen (Higher than S3) and 4G ready, but only has a 1800 mah battery (compare to S3's 2100 mah). Doesn't last the user the entire day.

5) Strengths
Fast, smooth operating system. No visible lag, which is applaudable.
Good, high resolution screen.
Decent spec (Dual core processor only, but still decent enough. Removable battery, MicroSD expandable, somewhat a rarity nowadays)
Might still appeal to loyal Blackberry customers and institutions.

This is more of a tech review than a review of the companies fundamentals, but I hope I shared something useful. In a nutshell, I think Blackberry was smart in their attempt to emulate their competitors' success. However, they did not go far enough. As a result it is neither familiar enough to attract their competitor's fans and nor different enough to set the bar higher.

[specuvestor]

I might be stating the obvious but this is the last chance for Blackberry to execute as a viable third alternative. Unlike Nokia or Motorola or Sony they actually have a credible inhouse OS.

Crackberry comparative advantage was secure push email back when windows mobile email was utterly unusable, and the familiar qwerty keyboard, which ushered in era of phones with slide out keyboards. Like Palm they have rested on their laurels too long while the world passed them by. Now's a question of whether they could lean back on their corporate users base and strengthen their comparative advantage rather than make another smartphone wannabe, just as Apple leaned back on the education market and the loyal followers. Unfortunately I have a feeling that the current management don't get it.

Incidentally OS 10 was also the game changer for Apple: what is now known as OS X based on NeXT

[valueinvesting]

RIM renamed BlackBerry, new smartphones unveiled

NEW YORK - Research In Motion today unveiled a long-delayed line of smartphones it says will put the company on the comeback trail in a market it once dominated, promising its BlackBerry 10 devices will wow consumers and businesses alike when they hit stores.

Signalling his hopes for a fresh start for the company that pioneered on-your-hip email, Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins said RIM was abandoning the name it has used since its inception in 1985. From now on, he told tech analysts and other guests, the company will just be known as BlackBerry.

http://www.todayonline.com/tech/gadgets/...s-unveiled

Most of the analysts are not too optimistic; some even thinks the new Blackberry will not be able to deliver the kind of sales the company needs to recover from resent years of decline.

[CityFarmer]

BlackBerry searching high and low in India, Indonesia

NEW DELHI/JAKARTA — Research in Motion must chart a tough course in its two key emerging markets of India and Indonesia: quickly launch cheaper handsets to woo lower-end subscribers while restoring its tattered brand among the countries’ status-conscious.

The company, which is rebranding itself BlackBerry after its best-known smartphone, has won millions of followers in these two Asian countries, mostly by selling cheaper handsets and offering service packages as low as US$2 (S$2.40) a month. So it’s unlikely that the Z10 model introduced last week, which operators in India expect to sell for around US$750, will appeal to the users it must reach if it is to build market share.

http://www.todayonline.com/tech/blackber...-indonesia

[CityFarmer]

BlackBerry eyes future beyond its new line of devices

TORONTO — Barely a week after launching an all-new, make-or-break line of smartphones, BlackBerry is already looking at a future in which it is a leader in “mobile computing,” Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said yesterday.

Heins said BlackBerry is aiming to reclaim its spot as an innovator in a world where smartphones already have the processing power to replace tablets and laptops.

http://www.todayonline.com/tech/blackber...ne-devices