Items tagged with RIM
It was a questionable partnership from the start, but after a rocky year, it's coming to a close. During desperate times, RIM hitched its creative wagon to Alicia Keys, bestowing upon her the role of Global Creative Director. Pundits were quick to point out that Keys frequently used an iPhone, and questioned her ability to truly make a dent in the company's sagging sales and mind share. As things have played it, it appears that those who worried did so justifiably: Keys is being relieved of her duties at the end of the month, and one has to wonder how much longer BlackBerry will be around to regret it. Complicating things further is this: a few months ago, it was revealed that Justin Bieber made...
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Here's the obvious: things aren't looking peachy for BlackBerry, and they haven't for a very long while. As the company bleeds market share at an alarming rate, most believe that we're well beyond the point of no return, and today's quarterly financials are going to leave the employees who are hanging on with a sullen holiday season. The company managed to pull in $1.2 billion in revenue for Q3, which was a substantial drop from the $1.6 billion it found last quarter. It also sold just 1.9 million smartphones in all of Q3, compared to 3.7 million in Q2. Charges are really hurting its bottom line, with a non-cash, pre-tax charge amount of $4.6 billion "associated with long-lived assets, inventory...
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BlackBerry's plan for saving itself involves spending much, much less on the consumer market, where it has given up nearly all of its gains to stalwarts like Apple and Samsung. Instead, it'll be focusing primarily on the enterprise and software sectors going forward, but there are still quite a few consumer products in the pipeline that simply have to be released. As the holiday season draws near, the all-touch BlackBerry Z30 smartphone will seemingly find at least one home in the U.S. carrier universe: Verizon Wireless. The 5-inch phone is the largest ever made by BlackBerry, and it'll ship exclusively on VZW next month. It's priced at $199.99 with a new two-year agreement; if you'd prefer the...
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Times are changing, and so is BlackBerry. The company that was once the envy of the mobile world has fallen on hard times, largely due to the fact that it never truly kept pace with change after the iPhone's reveal in 2007. Today, its market share is at a low point, and it's wondering how it's going to soldier on, and in what capacity. Turns out, BlackBerry may have an ace up its sleeve in the realm of software. In the halycon days of BlackBerry, BBM was the supreme mobile messenging platform. It had features that no other service had, it was used by millions, and it was so well-built that many folks switched over to BlackBerry due to pressures from friends to make the leap and get on BBM. Now...
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It's typically not a great sign when a company has to come out and publish an open letter to the public in order to woo them back. Usually, by that point, the war has already been lost. In fact, one could argue that such an act makes the company seem even more desperate. Unfortunately, we aren't talking about hypothetical things; BlackBerry has been forced to do exactly this, just years after ruling the smartphone world. The open letter assured clients far and wide that BlackBerry was "here to stay," despite an announcement weeks back that could see the company taken private in a $4.7 billion deal. Massive layoffs are ahead, and it will scale back its interest in the consumer market. Despite...
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My, how the tables have turned. Seven years ago, analysts could've likely predicted that BlackBerry was in a position to consider acquiring a great number of rivals in order to stake its claim in the mobile market for the foreseeable future. Now, it's all the more likely that BlackBerry will be sold off in pieces for paltry sums that'll probably make its founders weep. After announcing a deal recently to be taken private for just over $9 per share, Reuters is reporting that a number of larger tech firms are in the running to bid for what's left of the once-powerful smartphone maker. As of now, Google, Cisco and enterprise software outfit SAP are all mulling bids for parts or all of BlackBerry....
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The days of BlackBerry could be coming to an end... or, at least the BlackBerry that we all know today. As the company begins to deal with the reality of its situation -- a reality that shows massive declines in sales, a lack of interest from consumers, and highly formidable opponents in the smartphone arena -- it has decided this week to sell itself to a consortium led by Fairfax Financial. We all knew it would eventually come to this, and BlackBerry itself stated that it was looking to finalize a deal of some sort by November. Shortly after announcing plans to cut 4,500 jobs and focus more on the enterprise, it appears that BlackBerry will be offering itself for $4.7 billion. It'll be a cash...
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BlackBerry may be on the way to the grave, and we aren't saying that with any sarcasm in the background. The company formerly known as RIM has been slipping in a major way of late, with the new BlackBerry 10 devices doing little to rekindle interest in a waning brand. It's tough to know what BlackBerry could've done to prevent such a massive drop-off, but none of that matters now: the reality is that Android and iOS have taken the mobile world by storm, and there's only a distant third to be had after that. Now, BlackBerry is issuing preliminary financial results for its fiscal Q2 2014 -- and it's not because it just can't wait to share positive news. The company is expecting a net operating...
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The company formerly known as Research In Motion (RIM) has some soul searching to do. After all the big talk, new platform and device launches, and even a name change to signify brighter days ahead, the company now known as BlackBerry notched an $84 million loss, or 13 cents per share, according to the firm's first quarter fiscal 2014 financial results. Stating the obvious, BlackBerry noted in its financial report the smartphone market "remains highly competitive," adding that it's therefore "difficult to estimate units, revenue, and levels of profitability." That might be true, or BlackBerry may be trying to mitigate the inevitable fallout from a disappointing quarter. If so, it didn't work....
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In recent years, BlackBerry has had a rough time recovering the major success it once experienced in the mobile market, but it hasn't been afraid to try new things and see what sticks. Take the PlayBook, for example, the company's first tablet, released at a time when the market seemed to be exploding with them. Unfortunately for the company, its take on the tablet didn't fare too well, and many would call it an outright flop. Eventually, the company held a fire sale to get rid of all remaining stock. It's a bit ironic, then, that BlackBerry's current CEO, Thorsten Heins, has totally discredited tablets in a recent Bloomberg interview. He states, in rather clear wording, "In five years I don’t...
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Given our increasing reliance on mobile, it comes as little surprise to learn that the app market continues to grow with each quarter, with the results from the Q1 period that just passed being the most impressive to date. According to research firm Canalys, a total of 13.4 billion apps were downloaded during the three-month period, an 11% increase over Q4 2012. With total revenue of $2.2 billion, it's clear that the vast majority of downloaded apps are free, void of in-app purchases (those are counted into the $2.2 billion). Those 13.4 billion apps encompass the four leading app stores; Google Play Store, Apple App Store, BlackBerry App World and Microsoft Windows Phone Store. While Apple leads...
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The smartphone market has changed quite a bit over the past few years. Once a major competitor in the smartphone market, BlackBerry has lost much of its market share as many former BlackBerry users have switched to iOS and Android. Despite its troubled history, the company remains and is fighting to regain its stronghold in the smartphone market. Whether you’ve stayed loyal to BlackBerry through the years or are simply considering all smartphones on the market today, BlackBerry’s new Z10 may catch your eye. The new Z10 is BlackBerry’s first device to run on the latest version of BlackBerry’s operating system, BlackBerry 10 (BB10). Needless to say, there’s a lot riding...
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The smartphone market has changed quite a bit over the past few years. Once a major competitor in the smartphone market, BlackBerry has lost much of its market share as many former BlackBerry users have switched to iOS and Android. Despite its troubled history, the company remains and is fighting to regain its stronghold in the smartphone market. Whether you’ve stayed loyal to BlackBerry through the years or are simply considering all smartphones on the market today, BlackBerry’s new Z10 may catch your eye. The new Z10 is BlackBerry’s first device to run on the latest version of BlackBerry’s operating system, BlackBerry 10 (BB10). Needless to say, there’s...
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Well, that answers that. With BlackBerry, formerly known as RIM, in a make-it-or-break-it situation with BB10 as well as the Z10 and Q10 handsets, the company's CEO has confirmed that it won't be delving into the low-end market that it has done quite well in in the past. BlackBerry phones have sold like hotcakes in emerging markets, helping the company to bolster itself while sales fell in developed nations like the U.S., but now, it appears that BB10 won't be tailored to bargain bin phones. Much like Apple, it seems that Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins plans on focusing on flagship products, and then allowing those flagship products to trickle down to lower-end customers as newer flagship...
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Those waiting patiently for BlackBerry's Z10 launch -- the wait is almost over. T-Mobile USA is set to become one of the first U.S. carriers to ship the handset, with business sales set to begin on 3/11. In other words, those with the right connections could have a Z10 in their hands by next week. That will almost certainly set off a domino effect, with more carriers (likely AT&T next) shipping it soon after. Of course, the Z10 is already on sale in 20 nations, but the U.S. isn't one of them. The handset faces its stiffest competition in this market, where Android and iOS are dominating in every possible way. Moreover, the Z10 won't come cheap. It'll run T-Mobile users $249.99 on a basic...
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A mobile operating system is arguably only as strong as the ecosystem it fosters, and that explains why Nokia is charging so hard to get Instagram onto Windows Phone. BlackBerry knows that BB10 is going to live or die based on the apps that ships alongside of it, and early adopters will be glad to know that the new Z10 now has access to Twitter and LinkedIn programs. The updated editions bring native support of each to the new OS, and Twitter v10.0.1 and LinkedIn v10.0.1 are available as free downloads in the BlackBerry World storefront. Tried 'em? Let us know how it's going. What’s new in Twitter v10.0.1: Doing more on the Compose Tweet Screen – An enhanced Compose...
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We've always heard that you can't take it to your grave, but one has to wonder why the former co-CEO of Research In Motion chose now to dump every last bit of remaining RIM stock. Jim Balsillie has liquidated his shares in RIM, leaving him zero shares, zero power to vote, and zero percent of class. He sold everything. A year ago, he still help 5.1% of the whole company, and now, he's powerless over it. In December of 2011, Balsillie had 26,840,490 shares of RIM stock. Even with RIM's amazingly low stock price of around $11, he's still coming out with nearly $300 million. But the timing here makes you wonder: does the man that helped form the company have no faith left? You could assume that him...
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We're pretty sure the executives at RIM, er, BlackBerry, have nothing personal against Japan. It's a fine country, and we're pretty sure the top brass there have given it a visit in recent years. But that said, Japanese citizens patiently awaiting BlackBerry 10 are going to have to swallow some bad news this week. Despite shipping in the company's native Canada, and promises to hit the U.S. market in a few months, BB10 won't ever make it onto Japanese shelves. Here's the quote being given out by the company's spokespeople: "We are in the process of launching BlackBerry 10 globally in key markets and we are seeing positive demand for the BlackBerry Z10 in countries where it has already launched....
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Although he doesn’t mention any hard numbers, BlackBerry (the company formerly known as RIM) President and CEO Thorsten Heins (pictured) is apparently very happy with how the launch of the BlackBerry 10 OS and its accompanying pair of phones is going. In a release posted on BlackBerry’s site, Heins said that yesterday was the best launch day ever in Canada for a BlackBerry device--by a long shot. “In fact, it was more than 50% better than any other launch day in our history in Canada,” he said, adding that “In the UK, we have seen close to three times our best performance ever for the first week of sales for a BlackBerry smartphone.” It remains to be seen if...
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During the BlackBerry 10 launch event today, CEO Thorsten Heins announced plans to change the company's name from Research In Motion to BlackBerry. The company has also changed its tagline to "One brand. One promise." The company's stock ticker will change to BBRY to reflect the new name. "We have reinvented the company, and we want to represent this in our brand….We have transformed ourselves inside and out, and we have defined a revision, a dedication to the boundless opportunities in mobile computing," Heins said. "Our customers use BlackBerry. Our employees work for BlackBerry, and our shareholders are owners of BlackBerry. From today on, we are BlackBerry everywhere in the world,"...
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Research In Motion (RIM) has been trying to drum up some buzz for its BlackBerry 10 platform by expanding its BlackBerry World app store catalog with lots of new music, movies, and TV shows. It now feels much more fleshed out with prices that are in line with the industry average. Individual songs in BlackBerry World sell for between $0.99 to $1.49 per track; entire albums go for $7.99 to $11.99. If you're on the fence about a particular tune, song previews are available in 30-second increments. Movies and TV shows range in price from $2.99 to $3.99 if renting, and from $9.99 to $19.99 if buying outright, though most are priced at $4.99. There's also a collection of apps, games, and themes to...
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In advance of its BlackBerry 10 launch, Research in Motion has made some much-needed changes to how its store handles pricing. It's still not ideal, but those using British £ or Euro € currency stand to see fairer prices. Currently, the lowest price someone in the UK can see is £1; after the change, that will become £0.75. On the Euro side, the new lowest will be €0.89, from €0.99. It's mentioned that those interested in changing their currency of choice are free to, although it will take up to 24 hours for the updated pricing to be reflected through the store. This leads me to an area where I think price-handling could be improved. It seems a little foolish that...
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