The release date is later than expected, the name is different, the location was a surprise … but no one admits to being caught off guard by the announcement yesterday about the new BlackBerry PlayBook. That’s what passes for reportage these days, I guess. To me, it’s interesting that Research In Motion is going after the Apple iPad from its core strength, the enterprise customer. Consumers will buy it, too, but I can see CIOs approving this device for corporate use because the back end administration will be secure, just like the BlackBerry. For office use, the two cameras will...
Financial results announced yesterday show a healthy disregard for all the ghoulish speculation about Research In Motion. Revenue during the last three months was up 31 per cent while earnings per share rose 76 per cent. There are now more than 50 million BlackBerry users, up 56 per cent year-over-year. And all this during an economic downturn that has confounded many companies. To be sure, BlackBerry has lost some market share. In the increasingly competitive U.S. BlackBerry was down two points, but so was Apple. Droid, in third place, jumped five points. For investors, it’s been a good week. Share...
A lot has happened in the world of Research In Motion since my book was published six months ago. Share price is down 38 per cent and some analysts, particularly in the U.S., have gone sour on the stock. The BlackBerry Torch seems to be selling well, but the iPhone 4 may be selling better. Several governments, including India, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, have been holding RIM hostage trying to gain access to encrypted email messages for security purposes. All of this reminds me of the bitter patent battle in 2005-2006 when it appeared RIM was finished...
Just back from a week’s holiday in Nova Scotia. Ate lobster daily, unlike the Globe and Mail’s Ian Brown who spent the summer writing about food across Canada, came to Nova Scotia, and declared he would eat no lobster. We managed to miss not only Hurricane Earl but also the blessing of the BlackBerrys by Rev. Lisa Vaughan of St. Timothy’s Anglican Church in Hatchet Lake. “I think they traditionally used to call it Plough Monday, where people used to bring their farming equipment and tools to the church to be blessed,” she told the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. “Most of us...
Cantech Letter has done a fun item called “7 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About the BlackBerry.” My favorite is: “In the third quarter of 2009 RIM added 4.4 million subscribers, a number equal to the population of Ireland.” Here’s the link.
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