poll: RIM is fineshed or RIM will recover ?

[oldpro]

As we speak, RIM stock is about to enter the $6 range, and bad news/publicity just keeps coming (they just lost a patent court case and will have to pay pretty large damages - moneys they probably desperately need right now). What do u think about RIM's future: "is finished" or "will recover" ?

Cheers.

[enigma54]

Even if RIM gets taken out, which is very probable at some point at, say, a 50% premium from today's level, that only gets you to a $10.50 stock price. This was a $60 stock 18 months ago! My vote is for finished!

[junkmail2002]

IF they manage to pull out of the nosedive, they will end up as a much smaller company - a shadow of former self... so the question is not whether they will survive or not, the question is 'so what?'... if they survive as a fraction of the old RIM, they will be a marginal player in terms of R&D, employment, etc... Either way, they won't matter other than being a textbook example in business schools everywhere, alongside Nortel, of how to screw things up.

[will888]

Oldpro, RIM is well done in steak terms. I completed my death watch long ago. In the smart phone and tablet space, 6 months is like 2 product cycles. About the only ones who care about RIM's new product launch are the principles themselves. Everyone else have moved on.

[jz1n]

You don't catch up and lead a race by going slower than all your competitors. And you can't force innovation by installing fear into your employees...

[mikeo007]

Hoping for the best (for the employees' sake).
Expecting the worst due to incompetent leadership.

[sandikosh]

RIM should be renamed RIP. BBX was supposed to be out this years. Then they said first quarter 2014. And then last week they said wait until it comes out, it will be a game changer. BBX will not make it first quarter next year!

[ah802]

Looking at the young CEO in place now, it's clear he's being placed to go down with the ship. Too bad, their last real hit could have been melding RIM's email security on to the Palm Pre (some rated it above the Iphone) but the didn't want to risk their 2B war chest and dump their own O/S (which is what they should have done) but ego's, pride and denial took first place over what their own engineers have said. They still have a small kitty to do something but in an atmosphere of too little too late, it's curtains for the stock holders.

Only a buy-out or takeover from the likes of Google or MS would have any hope and it would be for the patents nothing more.

If you're a gambler, buy stock... Apple made a turn around, no reason RIM couldn't with the right captain at the bridge (unfortunately he's six feet under).

[will888]

Looking at the young CEO in place now, it's clear he's being placed to go down with the ship. Too bad, their last real hit could have been melding RIM's email security on to the Palm Pre (some rated it above the Iphone) but the didn't want to risk their 2B war chest and dump their own O/S (which is what they should have done) but ego's, pride and denial took first place over what their own engineers have said. They still have a small kitty to do something but in an atmosphere of too little too late, it's curtains for the stock holders.

Only a buy-out or takeover from the likes of Google or MS would have any hope and it would be for the patents nothing more.

If you're a gambler, buy stock... Apple made a turn around, no reason RIM couldn't with the right captain at the bridge (unfortunately he's six feet under).

I will throw some conspiracy theory into the mix. Apple is an American Company. Nobody down south cares at all if RIM survives, in fact the investment community on wall street may want to see the company go under. The only value left in the company are the patents. The blackberry services are backstopped by their own hardware. Once the hardware goes, all those monthly accounts will shrivel up. Not sure if there were technical hurdles, but it seems unwise for them to not try to integrate their services into android and iOS.

BTW, the Apple turn around was driven by the iPOD. During the lean years, Apple was flogging computers that nobody wanted to buy. Does RIM have an iPOD equivalent in the back pocket? I doubt it.

[viss]

I will throw some conspiracy theory into the mix. Apple is an American Company. Nobody down south cares at all if RIM survives, in fact the investment community on wall street may want to see the company go under. The only value left in the company are the patents. The blackberry services are backstopped by their own hardware. Once the hardware goes, all those monthly accounts will shrivel up. Not sure if there were technical hurdles, but it seems unwise for them to not try to integrate their services into android and iOS.

BTW, the Apple turn around was driven by the iPOD. During the lean years, Apple was flogging computers that nobody wanted to buy. Does RIM have an iPOD equivalent in the back pocket? I doubt it.

Maybe the Blackberry Music Gateway is the game changer......

http://ca.shopblackberry.com/Product.../ACC-41596-001

[Gee]

I don't believe RIM is finished. But then I don't believe they will recover either.

This is not Nortel circa 2000

RIM will still be here 5 years from now. It will just be single digit market share.

They make a good product and they still have technology.

Their problem is not to grow market share, but to keep what they currently have.

[george__]

RIM is just having a lot of trouble in North America. But in areas like Asia they are going strong. They are also 3rd ?? place for top smartphone vendors. Soo if they can get BB10 out and it is actually good then they might make a huge comeback.

[mbg]

I think they're finished just because they don't know what they want to be.

Are they a growth company or a company that just wants to get by? They can't be a growth company with their current prospects, yet they seem to be trying to keep going in that direction, which means they'll waste a lot of money going nowhere.

Everyone is piling on now. People want to see RIM fail, and are only interested in bad news stories.

It's hard to fight that momentum. Maybe next we'll see an accounting scandal

I think they'd be better off scrapping their hardware ambitions and selling the secure messaging service to other smartphone makers.

[Jimboski]

They're done In the competitive scene.

[tkl]

IF they manage to pull out of the nosedive, they will end up as a much smaller company - a shadow of former self... so the question is not whether they will survive or not, the question is 'so what?'... if they survive as a fraction of the old RIM, they will be a marginal player in terms of R&D, employment, etc... Either way, they won't matter other than being a textbook example in business schools everywhere, alongside Nortel, of how to screw things up.

+ 1 and, if Microsoft can't be a major player ( so far ) in this area with all their $$$ and resources then I just can't see RIM having a chance. I just hope that I'm wrong.