Posted on 05/29/2012 7:39:13 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Research In Motion Ltd. RIMM +2.09% warned its business is deteriorating and will likely lose money for the second straight quarter, underscoring the uphill battle to turn around its flagging BlackBerry smartphone business.
The dire outlook comes as RIM scrambles to cut costs ahead of the rollout of its next BlackBerry expected this year. RIM is depending on this phone and a new mobile operating system to rescue the business, yet it still hasn't provided a date for the debut.
Analysts have been marking down their earnings estimate for the quarter for weeks, but most had still figured RIM would turn a small profit in the period. The company posted a $930 million profit in the year-earlier quarter, and it has maintained an annual profit since fiscal 2004.
RIM also said Tuesday it had hired outside advisers to help its board to figure out how to salvage—or possibly sell parts of—its business.
The company said it hired bankers at J.P. Morgan Securities and RBC Capital to assist in a previously announced strategic review of options. Representatives at RBC and J.P. Morgan declined to comment.
The banks are helping executives "evaluate the relative merits and feasibility of various financial strategies, including opportunities to leverage the BlackBerry platform through partnerships, licensing opportunities and strategic business model alternatives," said Chief Executive Thorsten Heins in a statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
creative-destruction alert.
My old Curve is a wonderful alarm clock.
BETA
They stubbornly kept their heads in the sand until they’ve apparently reached the point of no return. I used to carry a BB, but they dismissed the complaints of their users.
They simply didn't keep up.
They were hit by an utter game changer, black swan. I don’t see any way out for them. A Sony can come back because it’s not tied to one type of a product, but Blackberry means a physical keyboard. If they can somehow make that sexy, they can remain a niche player.
The Blackberry is probably the best alarm clock, ever.
It could awake me from across the house.
Now I own a Windows phone and am impressed.
Still love my BB. Even have the Playbook. It is a damn powerful business tablet. Apple and Android have yet to address security issues. I am able to run Android apps but because of a fully functional browser, don’t need Apps to do everything. Wifi plus can bridge to the BB and use my existing data plan. Had a 4s for 13 days and returned it. Outside the United States BB still dominates.
Check out the BB10 phones...very sleek and BB already has a touchscreen phone.
I missed the crackBerry fad, but I did once own a hula hoop.
Was seriesly considering tonight just tossing the Android phone out the window and going back to the BB Bold. < |:(~
My co-worker returned 4s in less than a week. Upgraded to a new BB afterwards. I like my BB. I haven’t had an affair with a droid or apple yet but in general, I’m not a fan of touchscreen.
My company once furnished me with a BB. It was not user friendly and the one time I needed it OCONUS, it failed miserably.
So I’m still using my 1.264G MOTO 9Q. When I want to talk to someone, I turn it on, dial the number, and presto, it works like a phone.
As someone who messed with telephony a fair amount a decade or so ago, it amazes me how many people fail at making a device that is at least a really good phone, just to get started.
Like my BB Torch except can’t do voice searches.
Had Droid Galaxy2 and IPhone 4G - they were like spoiled women.
Hope BB hangs in
Blackberry is a great email client, but a lousy cell phone. No screen link to ordinary voice mail, and none of the standard cell phone keystrokes work. Hold down a non-logical key and you get voice mail. What idiot designed that?
I abandoned my Torch in favor of an HTC One X. It was like going from a Vega to a Bugatti Veyron.
Me, too!! Why should I pay for those extra apps if I would never use them? I had a Blackberry Curve for two years and never had a minute's trouble with it. When it was time for me to get a new phone, the salesman tried to interest me in an Android, but I had just bought my Playbook and wanted another BB so I could use the Blackberry Bridge feature of my Playbook. My family members have other phones and are constantly (it seems) having trouble with them. My provider is Verizon and they do not even support the 4G technology in my area. You can not beat BB's QWERTY keyboard!
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