rim

For RIM, 3 last-minute choices

Did you bring popcorn? Research in Motion's first-quarter earnings report was a blast -- in the literal explosive sense.

A little less than a year ago, ZDNet's Jason Perlow predicted three outcomes for the BlackBerry maker: independence, assimilation, or oblivion.

The company was given three valid options -- and it still had time on its side -- to pull itself out of the then-quagmire it had found itself in.

But RIM failed to adapt and compete, and announced its first ever quarterly operating loss.

RIM said yesterday it would layoff 5,000 employees, dropping the total employee count … Read more

RIM shares plummet as investors worry about the future

The bad news just keeps coming for Research In Motion.

In early trading today, the company's shares have shaved off 17 percent to land at $7.55. The trading is the first chance for investors to offer up their opinion on the company's bleak fiscal first-quarter earnings that made many wonder if the end is near.

RIM's shares ended the day down 19 percent to $7.39.

During its fiscal first quarter, RIM lost a whopping $518 million, a catastrophic decline compared to the $695 million profit it posted during the same period last year. Quarterly sales … Read more

Did RIM just meet its Waterloo? (No, not Waterloo, Ontario)

Where to start? So much went so wrong during Research in Motion's fiscal first quarter that anyone looking for the proverbial silver lining in today's dismal earnings report would go blind.

By now even the most patient RIM investor is likely going to scream bloody murder after this mess of a report which was worse than many expected, if that's possible. The highlights:

The company lost $518 million, or 99 cents a share, compared with net earnings of $695 million, or $1.33 a share, in the same period a year earlier. Wall Street was expecting an &… Read more

RIM turns in lousy Q1, delays BlackBerry 10

Research in Motion said its first quarter would be bad. It turned out to be worse. And RIM will struggle more because the company said its BlackBerry 10 platform will slip into the first quarter of 2013.

The BlackBerry maker reported a first-quarter loss of $518 million, or 99 cents a share, on revenue of $2.8 billion, down 33 percent from $4.2 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Adjusted loss, which excludes goodwill charges, was $192 million, or 37 cents a share. Wall Street was expecting a loss of 4 cents a share on revenue of $… Read more

RIM earnings preview: Bleak, disappointing, 'terrible'

It's no secret that Research In Motion is in deep trouble. But most analysts expect the company to only further prove that point later today.

After the market closes, RIM will announce its fiscal first-quarter earnings, which consensus among Wall Street analysts pegs at a net loss of 3 cents per share on $3.1 billion in revenue. During the same period last year, RIM posted a profit of $1.33 per share on nearly $5 billion in revenue.

As one might expect, the more bearish analysts out there have been chiming in on their expectations for RIM's … Read more

Boost Mobile to launch unlimited BlackBerry Messenger plan

BlackBerry Curve 9310 owners will soon be able to IM as much as they want through a new plan offered by Boost Mobile.

Slated to kick off July 10, Boost Mobile's BBM Unlimited plan will provide worldwide and unlimited access to RIM's BlackBerry Messenger service. Unfortunately, most BlackBerry users will be out of luck as the offer is designed exclusively for the BlackBerry Curve 9310, RIM's new $99 smartphone set to debut the same day.

The BBM Unlimited plan throws in unlimited nationwide talking and texting for $45 a month. But customers who make their payments on … Read more

Analyst sees RIM losing 90 percent of workers

Research In Motion is a fundamentally broken company that is likely to be split up in parts and may see fiscal year 2014 revenue of about $7 billion, well short of the $12 billion Wall Street currently expects, according to Morgan Stanley.

Morgan Stanley analyst Ehud Gelblum became the latest analyst to ditch any hopes for RIM ahead of what is known to be a fiscal first quarter train wreck. Gelblum downgraded RIM to underweight -- a bit late to that party -- on the idea that the company won't even be able to hold its book value. Any … Read more

RIM reportedly considering splitting company in two

Research In Motion is considering a plan to split its company in two, separating its handset division from its messaging network and selling off the struggling BlackBerry hardware business, according to The Sunday Times.

The British newspaper (subscription required), which didn't cite sources, also mentioned Facebook and Amazon as "potential buyers." Another option has the company staying intact but selling a large stack to a larger tech company such as Microsoft.

RIM declined to comment on the report's specifics but reiterated that it's examining a wide range of strategies.

"RIM has hired advisers to … Read more

RIM reportedly cutting jobs in small batches

Research In Motion has quietly begun its much-anticipated layoffs as part of a cost-cutting restructuring.

The struggling BlackBerry maker has been laying off employees in batches of at least 10 for the past several weeks, people familiar with the situation told The Wall Street Journal. Employees in RIM's quality control, operations, and parts departments have been targeted so far, according to the report.

RIM, which has announced a broad restructuring in an effort to save $1 billion by the end of the fiscal year, confirmed to CNET that it has begun cutting jobs as part of that restructuring.

"… Read more