❗Let's close the gap: We still need your help to raise $40,000 by April 1. Donate now

BlackBerry maker RIM’s earnings fall 58%

David Gura Sep 16, 2011
HTML EMBED:
COPY

BlackBerry maker RIM’s earnings fall 58%

David Gura Sep 16, 2011
HTML EMBED:
COPY

Steve Chiotakis: Shares of Research in Motion are way down in after-hours trading, after the company that makes the BlackBerry smartphone reported profits fell 58 percent last quarter.

Marketplace’s David Gura reports.


David Gura: It used to be BlackBerry was the business smartphone — but that’s started to change. Now, companies are outfitting employees with the Apple iPhone, and smart phones that run on the Android operating system.

Rachel Lashford: People have been enticed by the touch screens and then, of course, the accessibility and usability of the app stores.

That’s Rachel Lashford. She’s a telecom analyst with Canalys in Singapore. While the market changed, Research In Motion was reluctant to change its product.

Analyst Adam Leach is with Ovum, in London.

Adam Leach: The BlackBerrys that were in the market, the portfolio that RIM was relying on, was getting quite old and really needed a refresh.

RIM has started to do just that. Too late for the second quarter, but Rachel Lashford says new products bode well for the company. Reports of RIM’s demise, she says, are premature.

Lashford: It’s still a top-five player, and it’s still shipping significant volumes worldwide.

In South America, and in countries like South Africa and the U.K.

I’m David Gura, for Marketplace.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.