[rollingrock1988]

What CEO has ever admitted any of the things you've just listed.

Companies do come out and admit their faults, it's just how they say it.....

The only one I think needs to be stressed is the last point, which is what the plan is. We don't know. They won't officially announce the phones. Investors want info- what's in the pipe, how are you going to get these units sold etc.

They get nothing. Plus they need to admit that they are in need of a new marketing, advertising and PR strategy.

[WillHeSurvive]

Companies do come out and admit their faults, it's just how they say it.....

The only one I think needs to be stressed is the last point, which is what the plan is. We don't know. They won't officially announce the phones. Investors want info- what's in the pipe, how are you going to get these units sold etc.

They get nothing. Plus they need to admit that they are in need of a new marketing, advertising and PR strategy.

Yeah, they only admit to it when are starting to climb back up.They almost never admit to mistakes when they are down.

[rollingrock1988]

Yeah, they only admit to it when are starting to climb back up.They almost never admit to mistakes when they are down.

I'll bite.

If what you're saying is true, then maybe it's time for them to get aggressive and be honest. However, it has to be done in a way that gives the investors and consumers a good amount of information. A map.

For them, admitting their faults, outlining them, and then letting everyone see "the bigger picture" they're talking about is the best route they can take.

Why? Because the way they are handling this in the media and with investors comes off as shady and unorganized. It makes them look like they don't know what they are doing. They need to show people what they are doing.

[Snick Snack]

One, I never said they weren't profitable. Two, the $4.8 billion number is revenue, not profit. Three, I'm not sure which Apple quarter you're referring to, but in their last quarter they reported $24 billion in revenue and a $6 billion profit (with half of the revenue and half of the profit coming directly from the iPhone). If you consider that a "slow" fiscal quarter then its stock is seriously undervalued, even at $325.



I'm not sure what your point is there. However, I will note that in light of them making nearly a billion in profit last quarter, the $3 billion in cash seems kind of light. Google's sitting on $37 billion, Microsoft $50+ billion, and Apple $60 billion.



When a company sells 10% more phones this year than it did the same quarter last year, makes an additional 15% revenue and "ships" 500K of its brand new tablet yet its profit drops by 10% and its management begins to describe "streamlining" or "reducing headcount" or "eliminating redundancies" (ironic coming from a co-CEO), the company in question has financial issues.

Your comment was the Apples' financial are rock solid with the inference that Rim is not so I'm questioning you on the implication. If I'm misinterpreting your implication, mea culpa.


Google doesn't manufacture their phones. Microsoft barely has any phones.

Apple is a force unto itself, but also it is bolster by their computers although I know you did state that the iPhones account for 50% off of their revenue and profit.

[allengeorge]

What CEO has ever admitted any of the things you've just listed.

Stephen Elop of Nokia. You might want to read this article from Business Week talking about his (brief) tenure at Nokia. I thought it was as honest as it could be, and well-played from a media standpoint. Alan Mullaly stressed that Ford had major issues when he was brought on as well. These are two that I can think off the top of my head.

I brought up the first two points because they're indicative of myopia. What you want at this time are CEOs that realize the depth of the problem and have a vision as to how to change it. I do not think either of RIM's CEOs have this.

[WillHeSurvive]

Stephen Elop of Nokia. You might want to read this article from Business Week talking about his (brief) tenure at Nokia. I thought it was as honest as it could be, and well-played from a media standpoint. Alan Mullaly stressed that Ford had major issues when he was brought on as well. These are two that I can think off the top of my head.

I brought up the first two points because they're indicative of myopia. What you want at this time are CEOs that realize the depth of the problem and have a vision as to how to change it. I do not think either of RIM's CEOs have this.

Not once did he use the word "me/I" in that article.

[Economist101]

Your comment was the Apples' financial are rock solid with the inference that Rim is not so I'm questioning you on the implication. If I'm misinterpreting your implication, mea culpa.

My definition of "rock solid" doesn't include trying to push new products and people out the door at the same time, so no, I don't find RIM to be "rock solid" right now. Profitable? Yes, and will continue to be.

[shabbs]

RIMM is going under $30 tomorrow. It's time for changes in the big top...

And then some... wow.

[allengeorge]

Not once did he use the word "me/I" in that article.

You're right. They were both referring to previous missteps of the company.

I made a mistake, and I stand corrected.

[reeneebob]

This is a pretty good article on Global News - they also had a big lead story on the stock price drop at the top of Global News at 5:30:

Research In Motion's stock tumbles to five-year low

MONTREAL - Research In Motion seems to have become a victim of timing on the launch of its new BlackBerry smartphones, causing investor selloffs and raising questions about whether it can still compete against Apple and Android devices, say analysts.

"RIM's core problem is that they don't have any new phones to sell," said PC Magazine analyst Sascha Segan.

Shares in Research In Motion's fell to their lowest level since 2006 on Friday, plunging more than 20 per cent in extremely heavy trading as analysts and investors questioned RIM's ability to stay competitive.

"The mobile market moves so fast that phones released a year ago already look old," Segan said from New York.

On Thursday, Research In Motion (TSX:RIM) announced plans to cut jobs as it works to roll out new smartphones and updated tablets in the months ahead to compete with Apple and Google's Android operating system devices.

Research In Motion said its upgraded BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Torch smartphones will be available in late summer, acknowledging it will miss a big chunk of the back-to-school selling season. A new, more powerful generation of BlackBerrys with the same operating system as the PlayBook tablet won't be available until early next year.

"At the end of the day, you have to put new products on your shelves," said Segan, managing editor of PCMag Mobile in New York.

"I see people really perceiving this as yesterday's company that can't get its act together to compete with the latest products."

The Waterloo, Ont., company has already cut profit forecasts for this year. The rollout of its PlayBook tablet came with little fanfare and lukewarm reviews in April, on the heels of the much-publicized launch of Apple's iPad 2 - which flew off store shelves and has remained one of the hottest tech gadgets on the global market.

RIM stock closed down $7.13, or 21 per cent, at $27.24 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with 18.6 million shares traded, making it the second most active issue on Toronto's main board.

RIM shares haven't been below $30 on a split-adjusted basis since August 2006.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Tim Long lowered his earnings' estimates for RIM but remained positive overall.

Long said RIM's transition to new products is having a "deeper" impact than expected but he still sees value in the company and in its new products.

"This does not change our view that new products will reinvigorate growth and that there is a lot of unique value within RIM," Long said in a research note. "We remain positive, but don't expect the stock to outperform for a few quarters."

Not all analysts were so generous.

"We do not believe RIM is accurately portraying the increasingly competitive smartphone environment," said Canaccord Genuity Analyst Michael Walkley.

"In fact, we believe the focus on launching the PlayBook ahead of its core BlackBerry products is more to blame for the poor financial results than the corporate structure," Walkley said in a research note.

Analyst Anil Doradla said RIM is a "victim of the hypercompetitive smartphone industry" and the company has had to reset expectations, undermining investor confidence in the timing and competitiveness of its new products.

Doradla said blame for RIM's coming job cuts has to rest with its leadership.

"The jobs cuts are nothing but an outcome of poor execution at the top," said Doradla of Chicago-based William Blair & Co.

UBS Investment Research lowered its price target to US$41 per share. It said the earnings targets for the second half of the current financial year are a stretch but "much of the bad news is out for the time being."

The median price for analyst estimates on Thursday, prior to the RIM's quarterly report, had been US$45 per share according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters.

In its financial results, RIM said it earned US$695 million or $1.33 per diluted share for the quarter ended May 28 on $4.91 billion in revenue. It had lowered its financial guidance for the quarter in April.

That compared with a profit of $769 million or $1.38 per diluted share a year ago on $4.24 billion in revenue.

The average analyst revenue estimate had been for a profit of $1.33 per share, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters.

During the quarter, RIM said it shipped approximately 13.2 million BlackBerry devices and approximately 500,000 PlayBook tablets.


� Copyright (c) Shaw Media Inc.

Read it on Global News: Research In Motion's stock tumbles to five-year low

One of the tech analysts in the televised story compared what is happening to RIM to the beginning of what happened with Nortel. Living in a town that lost a factory due to Nortel's closing, and close enough that people commuted from here to Ottawa to work at Nortel, I can see the similarities.

[Shlooky]

Read it on Global News: Research In Motion's stock tumbles to five-year low

One of the tech analysts in the televised story compared what is happening to RIM to the beginning of what happened with Nortel. Living in a town that lost a factory due to Nortel's closing, and close enough that people commuted from here to Ottawa to work at Nortel, I can see the similarities.

I completely agree, having lost my shirt with Nortel, I too can see how RIM is following Nortel's path from a leadership perspective.

[pattste]

I completely agree, having lost my shirt with Nortel, I too can see how RIM is following Nortel's path from a leadership perspective.

I hear what you're saying but there are substantial differences. The main one being that Nortel was misreporting its results and several executives were charged with fraud both in the US and Canada. People quickly lost any confidence in the company when those shenanigans became public knowledge.

There is no reason to believe that RIM is doing anything illegal. They're just incompetent.

[reeneebob]

It wasn't the end though that they were comparing it to. They said the signs were the same as when Nortel first started showing signs of trouble.