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Tag: playbook

  • Blackberry Maker Says It Plans to Release New Model First Before Disclosing Financial Figures

    RIM, the maker of the popular BlackBerry smartphone today said it was postponing its earlier scheduled disclosure of the latest company financial figures, preferring to go ahead first with the release of its awaited new BlackBerry 10 models.

    In a report by Reuters, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion said it was delaying its scheduled disclosure of financial figures to analysts set for May this year, instead setting the business meeting for later in 2012. RIM had typically released its financial report for analysts during the Blackberry World conference, usually held in the summer.

    RIM spokeswoman Tenille Kennedy told Reuters the company is deciding to focus instead on its worldwide customers, developers and partners as the Canada-based technology firm goes into the final stages of the impending public release of its new generation of smartphones to be led by the popular BlackBerry.

    Kennedy confirmed that the company is planning to set up a session separate from the product-oriented BlackBerry World conference in May that would target the interests of investors looking to RIM as an alternative investment focal point, at a point level with such smartphone leaders as Apple, Samsung, Nokia and LG. 

    Research In Motion had earlier announced its impending release of the new BlackBerry 10 editions which will use the same operating system of the company’s PlayBook tablet.  The PlayBook itself has not made a successful sales impact on the strictly competitive tablet market, led by Apple’s top selling iPads.

    The new RIM schedule, both for the postponement of the public release of its financial position as well as the marketing of the BlackBerry 10 models, has been interpreted by industry observers as the firm’s redoubling of efforts to come out with a competitive smartphone that would make use of powerful chipsets it said were set for delivery to its factories sometime early this year.

  • RIM Cuts Off Prices, Likely to Name Barbara Stymiest as Chairman

    We have been talking lately about the problems faced by the Canadian company Research in Motion and here’s that the first days of 2012 are also bringing the first strategy changes: changes in management board as well as in marketing section.

    Thus, after the pressures exerted by an important group of shareholders of the company, it seems that both Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie – the two co-founders of RIM – will lose their executive functions. The two co-CEO of the company will most likely be replaced by Barbara Stymiest, director recruited by the company in 2007, which is believed to have the necessary qualities to recover the Canadian company.

    Until then, a committee composed of seven directors in charge at the company (including Ms. Stymiest) examined the decision-making structure and the advantages or disadvantages that would be in case of keeping the couple Lazaridis – Balsillie at the helm of RIM.

    The second measure taken by RIM officials aims at boosting sales on tablet segment, where the results were far below expectations. Under these conditions, the price of all Playbook tablets (regardless of the storage capacity offered) remained unsold was reduced to $299 – until February 4 or until stocks run out.

    The reduction is significant, given that one 64GB tablet was initially costing $700, the version with 32 GB – $ 599 and the 16GB – $499. Despite the fact that in these conditions, the company's profits will be almost zero, RIM could this way get rid of significant stocks of unsold products.

    As we have already mentioned, several manufacturers have shown their interest in taking over Research in Motion, but the company said it will try to resolve their problems on their own first.

  • RIM Takeover: Microsoft, Nokia and Amazon Are Interested

    Bosses of Microsoft and Nokia have carried out several discussions in the recent months with the Canadians from RIM (Research in Motion), the manufacturer of BlackBerry phones, in an attempt to build extensive partnerships regarding the future of RIM, company whose shares have reached the minimum value of the last eight years.

    Amazon was also interested in the RIM takeover, but Canadians are determined to reject all the bids, following the idea that they can solve the company problems on their own.

    Discussions status is unknown, but the fact that this kind of discussions took place highlights the severity of the problems faced lately by RIM.

    The company posted results below expectations in Q4, while RIM shares are trading now at a value of more than four times less than 12 months ago.

    Currently, RIM capitalization is 2.83 times the annual income, the figure being the lowest among all players in the telecommunications industry with a value of over $ 1 billion.

    RIM is facing lately with a lot of problems, the company announcing recently that it will delay the launch of its latest BlackBerry handsets.

    In addition, BlackBerry smartphones have steadily lost market share against its competitors, Apple’s iPhone or terminals equipped with Android.

    RIM has failed on the tablets market too. Its 7-inch Playbook tablet launched this year by the Canadian company, recorded sales well below expectations. In order to counter this fail, the device was gradually reduced in pricing from about $ 500 to about $ 200, another fact proving the delicate situation faced by the Canadians at RIM.

  • RIM Recalls 1,000 Playbooks for Repairs

    Research In Motion (RIM), the manufacturer of the popular Blackberry phones, has recalled from the market 1,000 copies of the new-released tablet, PlaybBook, because of problems with the operating system that could pose difficulties in the initial installation of the gadget, writes Reuters, citing overseas media.

    Even if it didn’t pass so much time from the launching of the BlackBerry tablet, it seems that they have been a little rushed. Although sales were not great in the first days or the PlayBook was not a revelation to most users, the gadget is now available worldwide.

    The problem is as follows: RIM factory called back about 1,000 tablets that would have some problems that cannot be solved with a simple firmware update. Through a press release in which are filled the series of all the 935 damaged BlackBerry PlayBook, RIM has defined very well the extent of the problem.

    Even so, BlackBerry phone manufacturer announced in a statement posted on CrackBerry.com that the most affected devices were in stores and have not yet reached the customers. "The company is working to remedy the defects," said RIM.

    According to information published in the weekend by Engadget, the damaged tablets were distributed through the network of Staples stores.

    RIM is facing major challenges to maintain its market share, after the strong competition from Apple and Android devices. The new PlayBook tablet would have to alleviate the competitive pressure, but the gadget has been coolly received by the analysts in this field.