[poseidon5]

i'm assuming that the BB servers will shut down if RIM goes bust or blackberry gets buried after a takeover. does that mean BIS will no longer be available and our smartphones will turn into old GSM phones? Or will carriers be able to take over the pushing of email etc..?

[Heavy Fluid]

I don't think that you have anything to worry about. This is more than likely never going to happen.

[hammerhead102]

I'm wondering the same thing. What if I get involved with a T-mobile payment plan for a 9900 and things go south for RIM? What will carriers do? Kind of like the grinch stealing Christmas...

[NJPhilliesPhan]

I would assume that our carriers would have to provide us alternate smart phones. I think there is a big chance of RIM being split up and sold in pieces. Rough times for RIM and its customers.

[Heavy Fluid]

Let me know when this shutdown happens. Until then, I will continue to use my BB as RIM intended, with full BIS.

[hammerhead102]

There aren't any alternate smart phones that I would want... I really hate all of this.

[kevinnugent]

Whoever buys RIM would want to keep the BES/BIS systems running. It's a cash cow. Hardware may get jettisoned, but the Enterprise and BIS part of the business could be licensed out to other OS's e.g. Android and Apple and Windows. RIM's new owner would make a killing.

[magician1]

Over 70 million subscribers and counting. The money will roll in for another year until they get their BB10 launch!
If it was not good then I would not be returning when the 9790 arrives here in the uk in a few weeks after moving to iOS 4s 2 months ago.
As Kevin said so well on a pod cast recently, the phone features and email on an iOS device is more like an APP!!!!! Whereas the phone and email messaging functionality on the BB is made from the ground up as its main DNA!!!!!
Just cannot wait to get my hands back onto the world class keyboard and have bulled proof messaging

[NJPhilliesPhan]

There aren't any alternate smart phones that I would want... I really hate all of this.

I wouldnt worry, there are many advanced smart phones in the market from Android, Windows, and Apple. I know we love our BB's but if this happens we have no choice. The good thing is that many of these phones are far more advanced then our BBs.

[sleepngbear]

I'll be doing the same thing I did when Palm started circling the drain (around the time it completely lost its direction by abandoning a perfectly usable Palm OS for that pitiful replacement called WinMo) ... begin the painstaking task of finding another device that suits my needs. So far there is no other such animal. But fret not ... RIM is just sniffing out the porta-potty and is nowhere near that point.

[guerllamo7]

Even if RIM never sold one more phone. Not one, the service revenue and their cash pile would keep them in business for three years. Honestly, although they are struggling in the U.S., their overseas business are going bonkers and doing very well.

If you don't want a BlackBerry then don't get one but if you do want one then don't worry about the company. They will be fine and even if they did go out it would take years and years.

Look at Palm, they were in debt for quite some time. RIM is absolutely not Palm. They are making a profit and they have a clear path to it. However, your question is very telling of the market reporting on RIM. If you live in the U.S. you probably wonder about it because it is how it is portrayed by the media.

I've never suggested buying shares of RIM but I can tell you that they will not go out of business. If you enjoy your BlackBerry like I do, then let the executive team worry about the share price and you just enjoy your awesome OS7 device IMO.

RIM is the only company I know that is still adding subscribers (75 million users world wide), making a ton of cash, adding to their cash line on the balance sheet (yes, only 80 million more after expenses but still quite a bit to add to their 1.4Billion in cash) whose viability is questioned.

RIM still has and probably always will have:
The best security on smartphones.
The best e-mail and messaging.
The best physical keyboards.
They continue to add new features such as BBM Music, BB Traffic with voice navigation (in Beta), BB Movies on the way, etc.

Don't let the turkeys scare you. It does not make sense. I don't own shares of RIM but I do love using the Bold 9930. IMO the absolute best smartphone out there for me.

Here is to RIM having a great 2012!

[palmless]

Expect that the IP is sold to one buyer, the brand to an Asian manufacturer, and RIMM retains the BIS service contracts. RIMM would be much more profitable as a percentage of revenue and could improve their chances of managing all mobile communications for large enterprises.

IF... they don't wait a year.

[loneweasel]

Whoever buys RIM would want to keep the BES/BIS systems running. It's a cash cow. Hardware may get jettisoned, but the Enterprise and BIS part of the business could be licensed out to other OS's e.g. Android and Apple and Windows. RIM's new owner would make a killing.

This is correct.

New owners will buy it for the patents first and foremost. They'll milk the service business, which still has high margins. The handset business will be pretty much SOL. First thing they'd do is to kill QNX and everything associated with it, Playbook and BB10.They might publicly support older OS handsets for a while just to clear inventory.

[NJPhilliesPhan]

I've never suggested buying shares of RIM but I can tell you that they will not go out of business.

Do you have inside information? Thats a very powerful statement to make of a company that has a tanking stock price.

[NJPhilliesPhan]

Expect that the IP is sold to one buyer, the brand to an Asian manufacturer, and RIMM retains the BIS service contracts. RIMM would be much more profitable as a percentage of revenue and could improve their chances of managing all mobile communications for large enterprises.

IF... they don't wait a year.

That is exactly what some analysts are predicting for RIMs future. The brand would definetly go to a foreign country where the BB name is not as tarnished as in N. America.

[hammerhead102]

I'm going to buy the 9900 through T- mobile and get that keyboard before it gets away. Then just hope for the best. Heck.. T-mobile escaped ATT.. Maybe RIM will escape the butcher block and come back stronger and smarter!

[thebignewt]

Buy the phones. Don't buy the stock. Or don't buy the phones and don't buy the stock. Nobody's gonna lose service anytime soon. BB is in way better shape than Palm. I think RIM could bet sold or part of it anyway. And they gotta ditch that Playbook POS and get a good modern smartphone thing out there. I really liked my BB phones that I had.

[NJPhilliesPhan]

I'm going to buy the 9900 through T- mobile and get that keyboard before it gets away.

Honestly I dont think those phones will be sold out, touchscreen is what everyone wants now.

[palmless]

That is exactly what some analysts are predicting for RIMs future. The brand would definetly go to a foreign country where the BB name is not as tarnished as in N. America.

It's not an awful fate. The IP is added to the portfolio of an entity that will use it productively. The brand would go to an "aspirational" market, where a purchaser of a $40 feature phone would pay $10 more to have a "Blackberry". BIS revenues would continue for those who valued that service. BBvii phone production could freeze with the current models, and hope that RIM could ride the learning curve up and development costs down to offset the lower volumes. Sell 5% as many handsets as today, but sell them at a premium to the subset of users who truly value the unique communications/security scheme.

Everybody wins?

[msmara]

Seeing that they're doing just fine in all other countries except North America, I'll have to just pack up and move to one of them.

[ADFXPro777]

If RIM actually falls to ruins, my alternative would be an Android prepped for business by 3LM (3 Laws Mobility). Blackberry costs nothing to prep and is ready out of the box, a 3LM-prepped Android would cost around an extra $75-100 (according to my network advisers).

One thing for sure that I will not get is an iphone - my network advisers estimates prepping costs to be around $300-500 - what a huge waste of money.

[joeldf]

Do you have inside information? Thats a very powerful statement to make of a company that has a tanking stock price.

You don't need "inside information". Just look at the fact that RIM is still making a profit. There is a big disconnect between the company's stock price and it's actual health right now. Stock prices tend to be based on emotion and perception rather than reality.

Companies that fold the way you're talking tend to run in debt for a long time before finally falling. RIM is not anywhere near there yet.

Doesn't mean that they won't end up there in a few years if they can't somehow revive the US market.

[kbz1960]

Honestly I dont think those phones will be sold out, touchscreen is what everyone wants now.

So everyone is who? All the people that just bought the new bolds? The people who buy the androids with keyboards? All those slider phones that are sold? Yes that sounds like everyone.

[moiselles]

I worked for a large bank that went under (the largest bank failure in American history) and it was scary working for a company in that position. Any company can go under. No one is immune anymore. Not in this economy.

[E92Vancouver]

i'm assuming that the BB servers will shut down if RIM goes bust or blackberry gets buried after a takeover. does that mean BIS will no longer be available and our smartphones will turn into old GSM phones? Or will carriers be able to take over the pushing of email etc..?

It would be pretty hard for RIM to go bankrupt if that is what you mean by bust.

RIM is worth $8 billion. They have no longterm debt. They have $1.2 billion in the bank. They have revenues of $19 billion that have actually been growing. Income is 4.6 billion.

They have reoccurring contract revenues from their blackberry exchange server and carrier fees.

At worst, someone like Samsung or HTC would buy them, or a private investor or hedge fund.