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  • Sunday, January 29, 5:08 AM RIM (RIMM) is in talks with mobile handset and PC makers about licensing the company's BlackBerry 10 operating system, new CEO Thorsten Heins tells Bloomberg. As to fears that he will be unduly influenced by Mike Lazaridis, Heins declares, "make no mistake, I run the company."

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  • Actually no, this is the only path to RIMM's survival. The have to stop making hardware and license out. Not the OS, but BBM. I was harsh about the new CEO, but he's showing the moxie to truly reform the model.

    Now, if you're saying it's too late, that could be true. They really blew the lead they had and it may never come back. But this is the only chance going forward.
    29 Jan, 12:06 PM
  • i just can't my head around how RIM wins against Apple, Android and Microsoft when Apple and Android are already killing it and Microsoft will spend themselves into oblivion to catch up with Apple/Android. Was a blackberry faithful 4-5 years ago, now I'm short at $16.
    29 Jan, 12:54 PM
  • I am biased since I'm short on them as well, nor am I a cpa, but did anyone else actually read their last earnings statement? Seemed chock full of red flags (95 pages of them). Even with their acquisitions how did their goodwill go up in a year where they lost 80% of their price? And is it possible that that they are depreciating the cost of said acquisitions while simultaneously recognizing all of the assets at once making the assets/liabilities look bigger/smaller?
    30 Jan, 01:28 AM
  • I'm bearish on RIMM and have been a vocal critic as well. But at a $16 short, they have enough EM presence to make that painful for a few years. But agreed, long term there is no winning anymore. It's a matter of licensing, collecting royalties, and fading away in an orderly fashion.
    29 Jan, 01:43 PM
  • RIM - resting in mayhem - I think they should not give false hope to the consumers, BB10 might be just as crappy as the QNX on Playbook. I am still using BlackBerry because it is simple, just like how everyone was using Nokia back then (doing Research in backward Motion). But, people's consumption patterns are dynamic, they should have recognized that from the start. Good Luck to Heins - take care of your loyal consumers before you witness a big exodus to iOS/Android/Windows8
    29 Jan, 09:34 PM
  • Maybe the end result is a failure of licensing negotiations and an acquisition is the result....

    Short at $16.... nerves of steel my friend
    29 Jan, 10:55 PM
  • No RIM fan here but this doesn't make sense. RIM is supposed to have solid and well built hardware. It's software is supposed to be the problem. So why would any 3rd party want to license it. If it's only BMM, how much revenue can that generate?
    29 Jan, 11:02 PM
  • There's a sucker born every minute. What do you say HP? Two wrongs make a right. How about another couple of billion dollars for BB 10?
    30 Jan, 01:13 AM
  • @pras, good one.

    @ent, I assumed that was a typo. Makes no sense that anyone would license BB10. BBM is the only thing of value left.
    30 Jan, 10:18 AM
  • Does anyone posting on this thread have any idea about the QNX/BB10? - NONE, and yet they must opine . . . . and keep on blabbing about shorting RIMM.

    With short interest being at less than 8% most of the 'short-sellers are full of XXXXXXXXX.
    31 Jan, 12:53 AM
  • Not knowing about the product that's supposed to save them is at the least a good reason not to buy.
    31 Jan, 01:59 AM
  • Heins at the helm will bring many good surprises.
    Watsa will be there to navigate and monitor Rimm's future prosperity.
    Rimm has the goods.
    Looking in the rear view mirror is a waste of time.
    Short at 16...wow....be careful that you don't end up with brown shorts.
    31 Jan, 01:00 AM
  • What, in your opinion, is the game changing revenue driver of RIM?. I do not see one.
    31 Jan, 05:25 AM
  • Advertising and marketing.

    I am astonished of how uninformed are even some of the most vocal anulists.

    PlayBook being the most glaring example - there was a reason why it didn't come out with its 'native' e-mail and calendar, as it it was designed to work with a BB phone . . . . it should have not been marketed as a standalone tablet, albeit it is one great performer - I have just purchased 34 of of them - for all my executive staff.

    It took me awhile to understand the real benefits and advantages of the system - I was shorting the stock before, at around $70, but as I learned more, I started to go long at about $37, and have been expanding ever since . . .
    31 Jan, 09:24 AM
  • If you have been long starting at $37 you must be ecstatic now that it has reached $17. I don't know how to average down a $37 initial purchase enough to feel good at $17. Keep buying the PlayBooks maybe that will help along with at great deal of Scotch.
    31 Jan, 09:31 AM
  • You did notice that I was short at about $70 . . . .

    Anyway, about the QNX - I can personally attest to its efficiency and capabilities - comparing the performance on two virtually identical pieces of hardware - Atrix 2, running Android and the PlayBook, and while I love the Atrix 2, especially for its WebTop application, the Playbook beats it by a mile in speed, real multitasking and on and on.

    Furthermore, while I didn't try it yet myself, independent testers have shown that the QNX runs most of the Android applications better than Android does . . . .in other words, all of the BB10 devices will ultimately be better platforms for the Android apps, while sporting the BBM - yes I am very bullish indeed.
    31 Jan, 01:09 PM
  • Interesting. In any case, RIM is an exceptional opportunity to make a ton of money. It's already started its comeback, and that will continue when the 2.0 release is out and then again with the release of the bb10 line. Expect to see the stock over $60 within a year. Long RIM.
    31 Jan, 09:47 AM
  • Glad to see "The Last Man" is a dreamer. We need more dreamers.
    31 Jan, 10:32 AM
  • Does the term "Irrational Exhuberance" come to mind?

    The Playbook is so ill-conceived, the only way it can survive is through die-hard CIO's that have their executives tethered (like the tablet) to an antiquated bench of technology. I feel sorry for these executives being constrained by their technologists
    2 Feb, 12:30 PM
  • It's just a ticking time bomb at this point. They still have to pay 1 billion over the next four quarters for their acquisitions in 2011! That's a billion! They are only market cap at 9 billion right now! And they have another 800 million spread over the next three years (see page 74 3Q Earnings). The kicker is they have already paid it (i.e. cash is gone), it just doesn't show on their financial statements yet because they are spreading it out over several years to make it look better in the short term! And on top of that they've overvalued said acquisitions. See Amortization of intangible assets @ http://bit.ly/yqOIuU
    2 Feb, 01:07 PM
  • Good comments. RIM has profound problems that are being masked by the tenuous strength of their emerging market sales. Those can, and will in my thinking, erode very quickly as low cost Android devices continue to invade. Once that's gone, the freefall is complete. Jim and Mike utterly destroyed the company they built. Their late tenure leadership will be studied for its hubris and shortsightedness.
    2 Feb, 01:26 PM
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