InfoAnda - Analysis: Could RIM's survival mean abandoning the BlackBerry? |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

VH1 Lines Up Three New Shows For Monday Nights | 30 October 2010
Iraq passes election law paving way for January poll | International | | 9 November 2009
Bush confident US-Iraq pact will pass - Yahoo! Singapore News | 29 October 2008

Clash of the Titans leads worldwide box office | | 5 April 2010

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Analysis: Could RIM's survival mean abandoning the BlackBerry? |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Davos 2012 Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Summits Business Video Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Politics Politics Home Elections 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Theater Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Gregg Easterbrook Nader Mousavizadeh James Saft Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Money Money Home Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Life & Culture Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Article Comments (5) Video VIDEO The "Flyboard" dives like a dolphin If you happen to have a spare $100,000 and can't decide what to buy your water-loving spouse for Christmas, you might want to look at the "Flyboard" jet pack, the latest in water-sport technology. Video Angry Birds maker eyes IPO Zynga's Mark Pincus Luluvise launches ladies-only networking Cat litter - the latest weapon in crime fighting Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Senate passes payroll tax cut and spending bill 4:38pm EST Rapper shot to death in Atlanta 4:15pm EST South Carolina has first human rabies case in 50 years 16 Dec 2011 Special report: the billionaire from Brazil | 9:11am EST Time short for S&P to end 2011 higher 12:00pm EST Discussed 249 Ron Paul gains ground, further stirring Republicans 135 Insight: The day Europe lost patience with Britain 126 Ron Paul strongly defends anti-war policies Watched Philippines counts storm dead 3:13am EST 'Barefoot Bandit' brought to book Fri, Dec 16 2011 Dozens die in Philippines storm 2:10am EST Analysis: Could RIM's survival mean abandoning the BlackBerry? Tweet Share this Email Print Related News BlackBerry delay darkens RIM's future Fri, Dec 16 2011 Wall Street rally fades after warnings on Europe Fri, Dec 16 2011 Analysis: Apple struggles to take bigger bite out of China Fri, Dec 16 2011 Galaxy and iPhone to top smartphone holiday sales Fri, Dec 16 2011 RIM delays QNX phones, offers dismal outlook Thu, Dec 15 2011 Analysis & Opinion Tech wrap: Is RIM circling the drain? Tech wrap: RIM under fire ahead of results Related Topics Tech » Media » iPad » Related Video RIM retrospective: the BlackBerry maker's tumultuous year Fri, Dec 16 2011 What would you do without your BlackBerry? Research In Motion needs new management: analyst A BlackBerry handset is displayed in Washington, December 15, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst By Alastair Sharp and Pav Jordan TORONTO | Fri Dec 16, 2011 8:36pm EST TORONTO (Reuters) - It might seem like corporate heresy but an increasing number of technology investors and experts are asking whether Research in Motion needs to ditch its BlackBerry handset business to survive. The idea that is gaining favor, albeit only among a minority of shareholders, would see the Canadian company fully open its secure and highly respected network to rival smartphone providers and concentrate on that business while getting out of the hardware game altogether through a sale. Disappointing quarterly results, including a dismal outlook for Blackberry sales and word that RIM would delay the introduction of new devices, sent its shares down more than 11 percent to their lowest levels in almost eight years on Friday. Just before those numbers were released, activist shareholder Jaguar Financial called on the company to sell its handset business and monetize its patent portfolio while retaining the high-margin services business. "Jaguar believes that the road map to value restoration lies in a sale of RIM whether as a whole or in separate parts," it said. RIM's spidery, data-crunching network reaches behind corporate firewalls and taps into mobile networks globally. The network, unique among handset makers, has been a cornerstone of the BlackBerry's growth - with email and instant messages routed through RIM's own enterprise servers and data centers, where it is encrypted and pushed out to subscribers. There are no middlemen to intercept corporate or state secrets, or even the flirty chats of teenagers who love the free BlackBerry messaging. TERMINAL DECLINE? Jaguar, which claims support from shareholders who own about 8 percent of RIM's stock but only owns a tiny fraction itself, also reiterated its call for a change in the company's leadership. It has called for a new "transformational" leader to replace RIM's co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis, the company's co-founder, and Jim Balsillie, the mercurial salesman who has marketed the BlackBerry to the world. It is not alone in wondering whether a sharp decline in Blackberry sales - the company said it expects the number of devices it ships in the quarter including Christmas will drop as much as 26 percent from a year ago - is a sign of terminal decline for the product. The company's network has stronger margins and more secure recurring revenue, though it still needs to be fully exploited. "If they want to maintain that asset, if not stabilize or grow it, they need to open it up to the other platforms and look at themselves as an enterprise software company," ThinkEquity analyst Mark McKechnie said. RIM is likely already working on just such a change, said a U.S.-based shareholder, who declined to be identified. The fund manager, whose firm owns more than 1 million RIM shares, said delays launching new software and devices may reflect efforts to fully accommodate devices from outside RIM's own stable. A year ago, talk of ditching the BlackBerry would have been almost unthinkable, let alone garner any serious attention. That was before a spectacular meltdown that has seen the device, once an essential tool in the top echelons of business and politics, being pushed aside by Apple's iPhone and smartphones powered by Google's Android software. The deterioration in the business has been so great that some analysts now estimate that RIM is barely making money on BlackBerry sales. MASSIVE DISCOUNTS That isn't its only problem. The PlayBook, the company's latecomer in the tablet market dominated by Apple's iPad, has been a deflating disappointment, forcing RIM to offer massive discounts on the unloved device. It took a $485 million pre-tax charge for the Playbook, which runs on QNX software that RIM plans to use in its future devices. The severity of RIM's problems shows up in its share price. It crashed to a low of just $13.12 on Friday, after trading as high as $144 in 2008 and about $70 in February this year. A company that was once worth almost $80 billion is now valued at barely $7 billion. Meanwhile, the subscriptions that businesses and network operators pay RIM each month brought in more than $1 billion in each of the past two quarters. The company declined to comment on talk that it will ever abandon the BlackBerry and did not grant interviews with either Lazaridis or Balsillie for this story. Balsillie announced a comprehensive review of RIM's operations on a conference call with analysts on Thursday. "We plan to introduce new devices into the smartphone and tablet market, as well as products and services that better leverage our global cloud infrastructure, and unique capabilities within the smartphone market, he said. While RIM hasn't given any indication it plans to give up on its BlackBerry handset, it has started to emphasize its services business. EXTRA STEP In late November, RIM took a first step that could eventually lead to establishing the network as a standalone operation. It introduced a software tool giving corporate customers the option of linking iPhones and Android devices to the BlackBerry network. The move stops short of offering outsiders access to its unique technology that encrypts data and pushes it out to the BlackBerry. Going that extra step is exactly what some critics suggest that RIM needs to consider. RIM charges a monthly fee to every BlackBerry user, making its network a stable stream of revenue and giving the company an advantage over every other handset maker. For RIM, it has become a more reliable source of profit than shipping its own smartphones. The strategic reasoning goes: Why build a staid Volvo or a flashy Ferrari when you can own the toll highway on which they drive? "There is a massive under-utilized asset in the services infrastructure which is very profitable. I think they are getting ready to come to market with a way to leverage that," said the U.S. fund manager. "At a minimum, I think they are going to start aggressively doing things that leverage their infrastructure beyond RIM handsets." RISK IN WAITING Mike Abramsky, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, raised the prospect of RIM splitting in two back in July. For him, the biggest risk is waiting. He says RIM's still-growing global subscriber base gives it time to make the move, but the network too would suffer if the BlackBerry keeps slipping. Alternative networks that provide many of the same features as the BlackBerry enterprise network are already making inroads. Eventually even that jewel could lose its cachet, he says. "The risk in waiting is that as more companies switch over to alternatives, it will be difficult to attract them back to BlackBerry even as a network-only business," he said, referring to companies such as Good Technology and SAP's Sybase, which encrypt and manage data for iPhones and other devices. Abramsky said offering a managed network for users of all handsets would expand RIM's potential market by six times or more. At the same time, the network business likely boasts an 80 percent gross margin versus a handset business in the high 20 percent range. Lazaridis has been betting on reinvigorating the Blackberry by hoping that QNX, the new operating system, will help RIM catch up and perhaps overtake the iPhone and Google's Android and stifle Microsoft's emerging mobile platform. The new system is supposed to allow devices to be updated on the fly and should also help third-party developers that struggle to write appealing apps in RIM's aging framework. A dearth of BlackBerry apps compared with Apple and Android has limited RIM's attractiveness to many consumers. But RIM has yet to show it can make the transformation successfully. The first of the new generation of QNX-equipped smartphones - the BlackBerry 10 line - was initially promised for early next year, but on Thursday RIM said it did not expect to release a BlackBerry 10 device until the latter part of 2012. The delay in the make-or-break QNX line will only accelerate the drive among investors for sweeping change. What's clear to many investors and analysts is the status quo will mean an accelerating fade into irrelevance. "Investors have been extremely patient and they're being asked to wait another year," said a Canada-based shareholder. "A year from now, will all this be too little, too late?" (Editing by Frank McGurty, Janet Guttsman, Martin Howell) Tech Media iPad Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (5) Ananke wrote: Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Sunday, 18 December 2011
Boat sinks off Indonesia, hundreds missing |
Typhoon kills more than 436 in southern Philippines |
Boat sinks off Indonesia, hundreds missing |
Troops beat Cairo protesters, clashes kill 10 |
Arabs may take Syria peace plan to United Nations |
Warring Yemen forces quit Sanaa, 2 troops die in south |
NATO closes up training mission in Iraq |
Nigeria seizes bomb factory after Islamist attacks |
Kazakh leader orders curfew after oil city riots |
Cradle of Arab Spring celebrates first anniversary |
France Sarkozy's popularity remains stable: poll |
Analysis: Could RIM's survival mean abandoning the BlackBerry? |
Americans losing addiction to CrackBerrys |
BlackBerry delay darkens RIM's future |
Zynga falters in debut, sheds doubt on IPO market |
Silver Lake, Microsoft working on new Yahoo stake offer: source |
Exclusive: Google CEO's inner circle: Meet the L Team |
Olympus tells lenders cash crunch looms: report |
ITC to review a ruling on HTC patent suit vs Apple |
Galaxy and iPhone to top smartphone holiday sales |
Europeans lukewarm on Nokia Windows phone: survey |
Taylor's National Velvet script sells for $170,500 |
Britney Spears engaged to boyfriend |
Christian Bale roughed up in bid to visit Chinese activist |
Singer Etta James terminally ill |
Bruised X Factor limps toward finals |
Basketball star Kobe Bryant, wife file for divorce |
Beach Boys reuniting for new album, tour in 2012 |
Who's Still Standing? Israel puts mark on U.S. TV |
Kate Winslet finds delight in Carnage |
Football underdog Rudy sacked for stock fraud |
Last U.S. troops leave Iraq, ending war |
Russian drilling rig sinks off Sakhalin, 51 missing |
Hundreds of migrants missing off Indonesia as boat sinks |
Philippines searches for missing after typhoon kills hundreds |
Troops, protesters clash in Cairo for third day |
Insight: Testing the limits of freedom in new Burma |
Israel due to free 550 Palestinians in Shalit swap |
Australia to probe 31-year mystery of baby's death again |
Vaclav Havel, leader of Velvet Revolution, dies |
Qatar has information Syria will sign peace deal: TV |
Yemeni general backs peace deal, 10 militants killed |
Islamists protest in support of Pakistan army |
Peru's Humala slips in poll after mining conflicts |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01