RIM isn’t only in trouble with customers. It seems like the company is also getting hit pretty hard by the stock market. For the first time in over a decade, RIMM has fallen below the $10 mark (currently at $9.68), performing at a new 52-week low, and the lowest it’s performed since way back in December of 2003.
Brian Blair, analyst at Wedge Partners, doesn’t really see the trend changing any time soon either. It looks like RIM may just be the new Nortel:
Our longer term view remains that RIM will be forced to focus on the low-end, developing market segment, as we believe that remains the only available opportunity for the company. The high end and mid-tier smartphone markets simply don’t want Blackberry anymore. The potential for RIMM to offer a more appealing, completely new and different OS, without a keyboard (initial devices won’t have it) and with no apps and no ecosystem to enterprise/consumers is incredibly slim. RIM, in short, is not a software company at its heart, and it’s been knocked out of the ring by three players that ARE software companies.
Amateur hour is clearly over. Clearly. It’s amazing how quickly things can change in a year. The reality of the situation is that RIM has to turn things around a lot quicker than they currently are if they’re going to stay relevant, and even then, it’s not all that realistic that RIM can return to its pre-iPhone form. The company has a pretty short track record of innovation.
Via: All Things D
