So RIM had a slow quarterSo RIM had a slow quarter.
- They "only" made 419 Mil in profit (not accounting for 1 time payments for layoffs)
- and "only" sold 11.5 million phones.
- and "only" had service revenue of over 1 billion dollars which from an install base of over 71 million phones which will be recurring and growing revenue.
And they did it all with a clunky suite of phones, that no one wants, with people holding off on purchases till the new improved phones come out. So yeah, I guess it is time to "Discuss Breakup Value", "Replace the CEOs", and plan the demise of the entire company....
Maybe an analogy might be illustrative as to why I think RIM should continue to survive and thrive.
The smartphone market is big and growing much like the car industry.
Apple makes a great "sports car", it's flashy, it's got the "coolness factor" and all the kids love them. Apple is definitely the leader in the "sports car" market.
RIM makes a great "pickup truck", it suits all the needs of business. It's secure, it handles business jobs effectively, and very importantly businesses have made huge investments in "pickup truck" infrastructure (ie blackberry servers and software). RIM is definitely the leader in the "pickup truck" market.
RIM tried to build a "sports car" but had very limited success: (
Maybe the new sports car with the QNX engine will be more successful, but if not they can still make a very, very, good living building pickup trucks.....
RIM is not going out of business. They make a ton of money, they have no debt. Even the bottom of their guidance they should be worth $50/share. I guess all I can do now is wait for it to stop dropping and buy more.