For RIM is it better to travel hopefully than to arrive?
30 January 2012
RIM’s new CEO is betting the company's future, and his own, on clawing back the share of the US market that it has somehow managed to misplace. It seems that price cuts and something called “mobile apps” will soon sort that out little local difficulty. Apple and Google must be quaking in their hand-tooled Spanish leather sneakers. In an interview with Bloomberg, Mr. Heins has revealed that RIM will launch a major (and majorly expensive) campaign to cajole hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of US consumers to buy the latest BlackBerry 7 devices and give the disastrous PlayBook tablet a try.
New RIM CEO: "Steady as she goes" (down the Swanee)
24 January 2012
A couple of days after the co-CEOs and co-Chairmen of Research in Motion (RIM) finally resigned their posts, the new top bod, Thorsten Heins, went on the record to say that the company doesn’t need “seismic” change. Analysts and RIM’s put-upon investors take a somewhat different view. Heins, four days into the job, has shown himself to be anything but a radical and is fast losing the chance to make his mark. Instead he is following the old established RIM party line of “It’s alright really. Nothing to worry about. Carry on as normal. Move on. There’s nothing to see here.”
A big movement at RIM, or is it just going through the motions?
23 January 2012
Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazarides, the co-CEOs and co-chairmen of Canada’s Research in Motion (RIM), maker of the BlackBerry, have finally bowed to the inevitable (and relentless investor pressure) and have resigned. However, they are not actually going anywhere. Both men will stay on with the company as board members whilst Mr. Lazarides will also be vice-chairman of the company and also the leader of a new layer of bureaucracy, the “innovation committee”.
New Year, same old dismal story from RIM
03 January 2012
Fresh figures show that RIM's prospects for New Year are bleak. In the quarter ended November 30, 2011, BlackBerry's smartphone market share in the US fell back yet again, this time by more than 3 per cent and declining from 19.7 per cent to 16.6 per cent. It’s not going to get any better in 2012. The new statistics from ComScore show that Canadian-based Research In Motion is losing further ground to Apple. The iPhone now has a 28.7 per cent share of the US smartphone market, up from 27.3 per cent over the course of the corresponding quarter, while Google's Android OS now has 46.9 per cent - what's more, most of the consumers who moved over to Android actually defected directly from BlackBerry.
RIM doesn’t need your help, so go away
21 December 2011
Reports have emerged that RIM has turned down offers from Amazon, Microsoft and Nokia, preferring to sort itself out and go it alone. Someone’s been imbibing to much Glühwein. Reuters suggests that BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion has turned down an approach from Amazon regarding a possible takeover. Despite being in a whole lot of business and financial trouble this year, RIM apparently wants to fix its problems on its own, and is not interested in outside help. Maybe it thinks lightening can strike twice and RIM will once again enjoy the incredible success of the previous decade? It’s wrong.
RIM: In the bleak midwinter, frosty shareholders made moan
19 December 2011
So, will Research In Motion be the first comms company to go down the tubes in 2012? Well, it’s more of a possibility than ever with the news that the company will now not ship its first BlackBerry 10 smartphones running on QNX software until the “latter part” of 2012. But not to worry, shareholders, co-CEOs Balsillie and Lazarides have agreed to cut their salaries back to just a dollar a year. But are they worth it? It can’t really get much worse for RIM.
RIM teeters on the edge
5 December 2011
The gap between reality and RIM's management's grasp on it is now so wide as to be all but unbridgeable. Things are now so bad at Canada's Research in Motion that the company has been forced to announce that it will take a "one-time" hit in its Q3 financial posting as it writes-off an incredible US$485 million to account for a warehouse full of BlackBerry devices that are so well past their sell by date the company couldn't even give them away.
But, reading the company's marketing puff you'd think everything in the garden is lovely.
RIM a “wounded puppy” as bank downgrades stock outlook
9 November 2011
Barclays Capital, spooked by the continuing decline in the value of Research in Motion's share price, (it has fallen by more than half since May this year), has “re-assessed” the business of the Canadian manufacturer of BlackBerry devices and in light of that, has downgraded the value of the company’s stock.
RIM: a company with Eg and Ham all over its face
17 October 2011
The world is slowly getting to know what happened when RIM’s Blackberry network and service was brought to its knees for three days last week. Although RIM has its European HQ offices and a NOC in Slough, Berkshire, the company's server farm, switches and other technical equipment is sited in Egham, Surrey, a few miles to the south, and that's where the trouble started. Stories are circulating in the technical media to the effect that a router at the heart of the core network failed, which chimes with RIM’s belated and grudging admission that the massive outage was down to what it called a “core switch failure”.
Never mind “Where’s Wally?” and “Where’s Waldo?” Where are Jim and Mike?
14 October 2011
Conspicuous by their absence atop the barricades leading the defence of the embattled BlackBerry network have been Jim Balsillie and MIke Lazarides, the joined-at-the-hip joint CEOs and co-chairmen of Research In Motion (RIM). They have been in charge for getting on for 20 years now, and during that time RIM has gone from pack leader to reactionary follower.
RIM closer to the edge as BlackBerry network fails for second day running
12 October 2011
The seeming inability of Canada’s Research In Motion (RIM) to be upfront with its customers about the reasons for two successive days of service outages across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India and South America, together with a failure to provide a coherent explanation as to why it has taken so long to effect repairs has angered frustrated subscribers. The beleaguered company isn't doing itself any favours.
It’s grim at RIM: Another bad quarter
16 September 2011
Canada's Research In Motion (RIM), maker of the BlackBerry, has reported another period of poor performance. Q2 figures show revenues down again, this time by 10 per cent. The value of RIM shares fell by 20 per cent in after-hours trading. RIM shipped 10.6 million BlackBerry devices of a various hues over the course of the three-month period, well-below the 12.5 million some analysts had been expecting. The company also shifted a mere 200,000 of its PlayBook tablet, just half the 400,000 it had forecast earlier.
RIM urged to sell its patents or itself
07 September 2011
In yet another example of patent absurdity, Canada-headquartered RIM, the maker of the BlackBerry, is being pressed by one of its major shareholders either to sell the family silver and/or the family homestead. In an interview with Bloomberg, Vic Alboini, the CEO of the merchant bank, the Jaguar Financial Corporation, which is a major investor in RIM, says the company needs to set up a group of top executives “to evaluate its potential strategic options”.
London has ringside seat at 2011 BBM riots
09 August 2011
Non-UK residents amongst you might be vaguely aware that London is about to experience its fourth consecutive night of organised looting. Who’s to blame? It’s da yoofs’ BlackBerrys – as if RIM didn't have enough to worry about.
RIM shows off new Blackberry Bolds and Torches: will they shine?
03 August 2011
RIM has just launched five new BlackBerry smartphones in a last ditch attempt to stop its steady slide down the global smartphone rankings. RIM says this one is its largest ever global launch, involving more than 225 carriers and distribution partners.
Grim RIM trim
26 July 2011
Canada’s Research In Motion, (RIM) manufacturer of the Blackberry, is under pressure to up its game and yesterday the company responded by announcing that it will sack 2,200 staff (that’s 11 per cent of the workforce) and “streamline” its top management. Among the top brass being ousted is the company’s COO, Don Morrison, who currently is on sick leave. He won’t be going back when he gets better but will instead “retire”. He is to be replaced by Thorsten Heins, the man presently in charge of products. His remit will effectively be more than doubled as, henceforth, he will be responsible for sales as well.
RIM on the edge
17 June 2011
The contagion continues to spread. Research in Motion (RIM), maker of the Blackberry, is to slash jobs after suffering a “challenging start” to its financial year and has cut its sales and revenue forecasts. (Shades of Nokia). RIM’s revenues for Q1 (ending May 31) were down 12 per cent on the Q1 at $4.9 billion as the company admitted that it needs to get its products to market more quickly. (Shades of Nokia again).
“It’s not fair!” BlackBerry boss blubs on BBC
15 April 2011
Poor Mike Lazaridis. The co-CEO of BlackBerry manufacturer RIM got a little upset this week because he was being asked questions that he didn’t want to answer. Rather than keeping his cool and using his (supposed) media training to answer what the hell he damn well liked, he broke down and stopped the interview. It’s an object lesson in how not to behave in front of the media, especially global broadcasters such as the BBC.
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