BlackBerry maker CEOs step down as pressure mounts

[The Green Barbarian]

Yeah, but that real-time conversing only happened because both of you had PBs. It needs Skype.

Written from my PB.

Yeah that's true. Not sure why RIM can't run Skype - I guess their brilliant managers decided they don't need to.

[Homeownertoo]

No. Skype won't port it to Playbook but it's not saying why. Why not find out before making a snarky comment.

[Static]

Why not find out before making a snarky comment.

I heard that Homeownertoo!

[Homeownertoo]

By Hugo Miller

Research In Motion Ltd. shares have lost more than 90% of their value since mid-2008. That hasn’t stopped a surge in bets that the stock will sink further as the BlackBerry maker prepares to report earnings.

Short interest in RIM climbed to 59.2 million shares at the end of February, the highest since January 2004, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and stock exchanges. ...

“They have not kept up with the new world,” said Buzzy Geduld, chief executive officer of New York hedge fund Cougar Trading. “Where kids used to all use BlackBerrys, they’re all using iPhones now; where companies used to all use BlackBerrys, they’re now using iPhones and BlackBerrys.”

RIM continues to lose sales to Apple’s iPhone and devices running Google’s Android software. RIM’s share of the U.S. market fell to 15% in the three months through January from 17% a quarter earlier, according to ComScore Inc. Apple and Google together share 78% of the market, ComScore said.

Even growing sales in emerging markets including Indonesia and India cannot make up for the U.S. slump, where revenue fell 45% in the quarter ended Nov. 26. RIM’s share of the global smartphone market slid to 8.2% in the fourth quarter from 14% a year earlier, while Apple’s share rose to 24% from 16% in the same period, according to IDC.

Analysts are growing increasingly bearish in their forecasts for sales this quarter. Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. in New York, said this month there is a good chance that RIM will announce disappointing results before it’s scheduled to report earnings because BlackBerry shipments will have missed the company’s target of 11 million to 12 million units. Misek has the equivalent of a sell rating on RIM. ...

“The company will continue to lose traction until it showcases its next generation of products based on QNX and the latter is very unlikely to generate renewed consumer traction,” Pierre Ferragu, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., said in a note yesterday. He rates RIM the equivalent of hold.

“The problem with the (new chipset) pipeline is that these guys keep postponing when BB10’s coming out,” Geduld said. “I don’t think anybody has that much faith that in six months they’re actually going to have a real game changer.” ...

Harry Rady, who heads Rady Asset Management LLC in La Jolla, California, held both long and short positions on RIM last year. He doesn’t now and says it’s currently too risky to invest either way, particularly when the cost of borrowing to short the stock is “huge.”

“You risk a short squeeze with any talk of a takeover or anything being done to unlock its patents,” Rady said in a phone interview.

In spite of RIM’s falling market share, RIM’s defenders point to its portfolio of technology patents and base of 75 million subscribers as assets that any rival would want to own. Those are assets no investor should ignore, Rady said.

“One side of the boat is sinking and the other one is filled with gold and it’s a question of whether the boat can be rowed ashore before the treasure is lost.”

Bloomberg.com

[The Green Barbarian]

No. Skype won't port it to Playbook but it's not saying why. Why not find out before making a snarky comment.

How do you propose I do that? Ask Balsillie? I like making snarky comments....

[Static]

Thats a neutral article Homeownertoo. Are you feeling OK? I'm still holding my shares on the basis that there is gold on the one end.

[twobits]

Thats a neutral article Homeownertoo. Are you feeling OK? I'm still holding my shares on the basis that there is gold on the one end.

You really do have rose coloured glasses if you view that article as neutral. Shouldn't have to remind you either that with each passing week, those patents become less and less valuable. Funny thing about tech patents is that new ideas and processes are being developed so rapidly now that yesterdays patent marvel is next years obsolete idea. I predict a buyout within 18 months @ 5-8 bucks

[Static]

You really do have rose coloured glasses if you view that article as neutral. Shouldn't have to remind you either that with each passing week, those patents become less and less valuable. Funny thing about tech patents is that new ideas and processes are being developed so rapidly now that yesterdays patent marvel is next years obsolete idea. I predict a buyout within 18 months @ 5-8 bucks

That is why they are constantly buying new patents, check them out on the TMX website. You are also forgetting that they have a growing subscriber base in Asia and the Middle East where there a is not very much love of America. I am predicting a $35-$40 stock price in 18-24 months. Time will tell. If it turns out to be a loss, it will be my 4th in 8 years-88% success rate. I can sleep well with that.

[Captain Awesome]

The Blackberry Predictions so far (18 months):

- Twobits - $5-8 (buyout)
- Static - $35-40
- Captain Awesome - $11
- Glacier - $12.50


Anyone else?

[Static]

The Blackberry Predictions so far (18 months):

- Twobits - $5-8 (buyout)
- Static - $35-40
- Captain Awesome - $11


Anyone else?

Homeownertoo?

[The Green Barbarian]

here's why Blackberry is dying - no one is making apps for their phones, so kids don't want Blackberries. They've lost the "cool" factor and by this point, they'll never get it back. Case in point:

http://techland.time.com/2012/03/13/dra ... ive-weeks/

‘Draw Something’ App Downloaded 20 Million Times in First Five Weeks

OMGPOP’s new game Draw Something is only five weeks old and it’s already been downloaded 20 million times. Right now it’s the number one free app for Android and the number one paid and free app for iOS.

As Business Insider notes, that’s not too far behind Instagram’s 27 million users, an amazing feat for an app that’s been around for barely more than a month. At this rate, we’re looking at Words With Friends levels of popularity — not a surprise considering Draw Something is fun for a lot of the same reasons that game is.

(MORE: 10 Totally Weird iPhone and Android Games)

While Words With Friends “drew inspiration” from Scrabble; Draw Something apes another game most people are familiar with: Pictionary. Both Zynga and OMGPOP’s game let you match up against an opponent, either a personal contact or a random user.

What makes Draw Something special is how it utilizes the touchscreen to create a game that is both ridiculously easy to learn and strangely engrossing. As I figured out recently, carefully outlining and coloring in a picture of a sheriff or a taco can make you feel like you’re back in kindergarten — that is, until the frustration kicks in and you realize how difficult drawing really is.

If your artistic skills are good enough that your opponent can guess what you’ve created, then you’re rewarded with gold coins, which later can be exchanged for extras like more colors. Coins can also be bought with real-life cash, which is why the game is earning OMGPOP a healthy profit.

CEO Dan Porter told Business Insider that the company is earning six figures every day, making in five weeks what the rest of OMGPOP’s games made in one year. Those 20 million users — 12 million of which are active — have created one billion drawings.

Now, when one of your friends inevitably invites you to play, you’ll know what you are getting into.

Read more: http://techland.time.com/2012/03/13/dra ... z1p7yyS4I5

[Static]

To the best of my knowledge their new phones will be appable. There tradional lines were not able use such an app.

[Glacier]

The Blackberry Predictions so far (18 months):

- Twobits - $5-8 (buyout)
- Static - $35-40
- Captain Awesome - $11


Anyone else?

$12.50

[Captain Awesome]

I did hear a rumor that BBX will be able to run Android apps...

[The Green Barbarian]

To the best of my knowledge their new phones will be appable. There tradional lines were not able use such an app.

They'd have to leap-frog off of Android's OS - as no one is making Blackberry apps. If you can use a Blackberry and download Android apps, then they should be ok, but the damage may already be done.