BlackBerry still has a firm hold on Washington, probably not changing anytime soon

[Brendan Hugo]

While dreary reports continue to plague RIM, Washington is at least tentatively committed to the beleaguered BlackBerry. After a recent quarterly report that was, in a word, horrific, many have expressed serious fear about RIM’s ability to stay afloat. But according to The Washington Post, BlackBerry still has many friends on Capitol Hill, and even more that are stuck with the devices thanks to all that wonderful red tape in Washington.

“We appreciate RIM’s focus on security, which is paramount for government use,” said Casey Coleman, the chief information officer at the General Services Administration. Coleman went on to state that while some iPhones and Android devices have been issued to staffers, the vast majority of its 12,000 devices are made by RIM.

While the report by the Post can be taken as generally good news for RIM, it’s mostly a final notice. The general idea is that as soon as Android, or other OSes, gets a little more secure, we may see a mass switchover. Some of the big obstacles keeping RIM inside the capitol are IT departments and tech staffers well versed in BlackBerry tech, as well as BlackBerry’s typical cheaper prices.

So what do you think—if RIM can really hit it out of the park with BlackBerry 10, and perhaps sign a licensing deal, will its well-entrenched government and enterprise user base help it rebound? Or is the door closing for good on the original smartphone?

[The Washington Post via The Verge]

[CrowdAds]

[The DarkSide]

Who cares!!! RIM is living on borrowed time,...plain and simpe.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

Who cares!!! RIM is living on borrowed time,...plain and simpe.

That sounds like a statement coming from someone like me who doesn't give a shit about mobile phones and I haven't even jumped into the smart phone arena yet, hope I never have to. Or is it that iphone users don't care about price, you should care!!! and let me explain why ... I always say it’s nice to see more competitors (players) at the table, they give us more product choices and keep prices competitive IMO.

That said, I wouldn’t recommend buying any RIM stock lately, as their share price has lost over 90% of their value over the last 3 plus years and unfortunately for them they’ve lost way too much market share to Google and Apple … If RIM stays alive, they’ll become a small player which means premium prices in this game for them and the big boys will do what they please :/

• Shorting RIM is at an 8 year high
• Demand weak and sales fall short
• RIM misses earnings four straight quarters
• Motley Fool prospective

Edit: BTW I’m not a mobile phone fan much less a RIM fan, in fact I’ve only tested a blackberry a few times. I just like to see a lot of competition so we get better pricing for the products we like.

[El C]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

I haven't even jumped into the smart phone arena yet, hope I never have to...

Hey, the good thing about regular phones is that they don't get obsolete as fast.

If I remember RIM's troubles are mainly in the US market, worldwide they are faring better. Is the loss of that market really going to sink them? While I don't really know much about this business stuff I always wondered why there was such a big focus on stocks and earnings.

Regardless of how the company's doing, I'm not sure if I'll stay with BlackBerry once my contract expires next year. BB10 has to be really good otherwise I'm jumping ship.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by El C

... If I remember RIM's troubles are mainly in the US market, worldwide they are faring better. ...

Aren’t you Canadian? Look at this in your own back yard: http://www.canadianbusiness.com/arti...-failed-at-rim and it's not just the US and Canada where they're failing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a RIM hater, I like to see competition for various reasons ...

Originally Posted by El C

Is the loss of that market really going to sink them?

It wouldn’t be the first time a company goes under for failing to keep trend with consumer demand. The fact is that APPL or GOOG could easily buy them now compared to yester year. But I think they would prefer to put them under first then buy up any important patents, although look http://crackberry.com/10-reasons-why...esearch-motion or http://seekingalpha.com/article/4574...-apple-buy-rim

Originally Posted by El C

While I don't really know much about this business stuff I always wondered why there was such a big focus on stocks and earnings.

Google it, I don’t have time … but profits are what allow companies to do research to bring us new products, grow and pay investors dividends for their investment in said company ….

[The DarkSide]

RIM fails their customers by creating troubled hardware that's ways out of date, software that's buggy as hell, and apps that are criminally priced. I hated all the problems I had owning one. And CONSTANTLY having to do a battery pull (a daily ritual for BB owners) is a real PITA.

They failed miserably to keep up with the times. And even when they saw the writing on the wall RIM still ignored what the message was. They automatically assumed that the services they provide couldn't be duplicated or BESTED by another company. They've been proven wrong, again & again. And counting on government contracts to lock in supremacy is failing as well.

Don't get me wrong, I personally agree that competition is a necessity for fair pricing AND innovation. But there's no innovation from RIM, and their devices are priced too high to be competitive. Especially considering the outdated hardware and (again) troublesome software.

If I saw a reason to have a glimmer of hope regarding their longevity I'd get a BB smartphone NOW. I see nothing. Apple, Nokia, HTC, Samsung, even Pantech, all are better at creating a device that's worth the money. None have their own OS, but at least you won't have all the troubles you'd have with a BB. And corporate level security is now there for iOS, Android, and especially WP7.

As I said before, RIM is ***sigh*** living on borrowed time. And personally, I'll be sad to see them go.

But, I'll add, if the go WP7 it would be a match made in heaven. Perfect corporate geared mating. IMO,...YMMV,...

[WalkGood]

Funny I’ve posted to this thread as I could care less about mobile phones and/or smart phones

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

… Don't get me wrong, I personally agree that competition is a necessity for fair pricing AND innovation. …

Glad we agree on this point and I agree it's sad to see them staying on their high horse ...

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

… But, I'll add, if the go WP7 it would be a match made in heaven. Perfect corporate geared mating. IMO,...YMMV,...

My guess is that someone else will beat them to the punch, like a Google buy out ...

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

My guess is that someone else will beat them to the punch, like a Google buy out ...

A google buyout would, IMO, kill them off. Microsoft would be the right direction,... Unlike a deal with Nokia, the MS buyout of RIM would be good for both. But, sadly, MS is afraid to go full-on with their own devices.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

... But, sadly, MS is afraid to go full-on with their own devices.

How true and this is where they've lost a lot of share to apple :/

[musichound]

I don't think the blackberry will dissapear any time soon. With so many companies depending on them for corporate email activity, I doubt if they will welcome any other service. The corporate email system for Blackberries is as close to perfect as it gets.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by musichound

I don't think the blackberry will dissapear any time soon. ...

Not always their choice, have you ever hear of a hostile takeover ...

[sideways]

The whole blackberry concept / form factor has become a bit obsolete. You can get the same kind of typing speed and accuracy typing in landscape mode on a touch screen device.

RIM will go bankrupt and be bought out by another company for its patents. Not necessarily in that order though it probably would be cheaper for prospective buyers to let it fall and come in after it has gone into bankruptcy protection. Let the current shareholders pay wages and lose their equity and swoop in when there is less overhead and more of the good stuff to be had. This was not investment advise.

[3602]

Having no plans regarding the purchasing of a portable telephone, I do want to buy a PlayBook in the near future simply because it isn't Android nor iOS. I'm not supporting RIM because I'm Canadian (I thought RIM is Taiwanese). It's just that in a world dominated by iOS and Android, RIM can still stand up and hold their ground. You have to give credit to these people.

[WalkGood]

You heard it here in this thread on abi first they’ll be gone one way or another. For all we know they’ve been talking to suitors over the last year or more, that’s the way these things happen. Mergers or sales just don’t pop up over night and if no suitor talks have taken place, rest assured that the vultures have been hovering for a long time now.

It doesn’t take any expertise to see this coming, any novice can see the writing on the wall based on their published performance over the last several years. No company can continue losing or take this kind of punishment. If share owners/holders get a hint of insider selling there could easily be a huge additional drop in share price and who would invest in them other than a big company who wants patents and possibly some of their tech for a bargain price.

Originally Posted by Time Business

link for article … ... ... RIM’s stock price declined by over 70% in 2011, and last month the company said that fourth-quarter sales fell 6% from the previous year. Profit, meanwhile, plummeted 71%, though much of that drop was attributed to a $485 million pretax charge from the company’s large inventory of unsold PlayBook tablets. ...

[sideways]

Technically they are not holding their ground, they are losing it on all sides.

[3602]

Originally Posted by sideways

Technically they are not holding their ground, they are losing it on all sides.

Well my phrase of "holding their ground" really means "refusing to give up". Even Sony gave up and started releasing Android devices.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by 3602

… I do want to buy a PlayBook in the near future

If you wait, but not too long, there should be some rock bottom pricing soon. Read the article I linked, there's a "large inventory of unsold PlayBook tablets."

Originally Posted by 3602

… I'm not supporting RIM because I'm Canadian (I thought RIM is Taiwanese). …

RIM is a Canadian multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

Originally Posted by 3602

… It's just that in a world dominated by iOS and Android, RIM can still stand up and hold their ground. …

I hope we’re wrong and they survive but if I were a betting man I’d be shorting their stock like the rest of the world already is doing.

Originally Posted by 3602

… You have to give credit to these people.

It’s not about giving them credit or not, the fact is that android and apple beat them at their own game and out sold them, taking market share away from probably the worlds first and largest smart phone manufacturer.

[3602]

^ I also used to think that Nokia is South Korean and HTC is American. Man am I outdated.
The whole thing with iOS and Android crushing RIM, well, that happened much longer ago on a much larger scale: Sony. Innovating in nearly every domain, only to see their market share shrink every year, with Sharp on the left and Samsung on the right.

Moral of the story? The history is written by winners and winners are often dicks. I think Winston Churchill said something similar and the same thing happened to him a while after.

EDIT: Ingratitude towards great men is the mark of a strong people. Yeah. That's what Churchill said. Or quoted, really.

[musichound]

Nah, the Blackberry isn't going to go away. I work in a corporation who is on the cusp of trends in the industry. It is not esploring into other means of communicatoin for the time being. Because they are not looking into this, there's no way it will fizzle in the near future.

[WalkGood]

^^ only time will tell, but if they don't get their act together its more probable than not, no matter what phones a big company or the government buys or not.