In spite of an announcement in mid-July that highlighted RIM’s plans for four new phones to run on their new operating system, the CEO of Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE:S) had no difficulties publicly telling the world that he has little faith in RIM’s ability to return to their heyday.
Who can blame him? RIM and their Blackberries have been iconic for years. However, their loss of market share without any real fight back can’t be ignored. Layoffs and talks of their imminent death, or at least sale, can’t be ignored. Think about it, their own CEO has recently questioned their direction, and if he doesn’t know what to do……
“We don’t think we will see Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ:RIMM) (TSE:RIM) get back to the levels they were two years ago,”said Sprint (S) spokesman David Owens, “So we have to figure out where they’ll be going forward.”
That’s just tough to hear if you love your Blackberry, own Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ:RIMM) (TSE:RIM) stock, or god forbid work for the Canadian company. Sprint has been a large part of RIM’s success for years, in the States, half the Blackberries you see have the Spring logo adorning them. When you hear the death knell being rung by a once strong proponent, you have to wonder.
“The challenge is RIM took on everything,” he said. “They took on the entire gambit: the storefront, the operating system, the manufacturing, and this caused them to be slow in reacting to the changes in the market.” He did, however, warn investors about giving up on RIM too soon and suggested that the Blackberry 10 has some nice features.
Considering reports that Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ:RIMM) (TSE:RIM) had strongly considered abandoning their own OS and moving to the Android platform, you have to wonder how much of that is simple lip service.
Their phones expected to be released in January fail to give additional hope.
N4BB has got its hands on a purported leaked document showing both pictures and specs of RIM’s first two smartphones based on its new BlackBerry 10 operating system. Here are the key details: The new BlackBerry smartphone with no physical keyboard is known internally as the “L-series”, while the phone with a physical keyboard is known as the “N-series.” The L-series device features a screen that’s 2.16 inches (55 millimeters) wide with a resolution of 768×1280 pixels, or 356 pixels per inch. The N-series device features a display that’s 2.08 inches (53 millimeters) wide with a resolution of 720×720 pixels, or 330 pixels per inch. N4BB notes that both devices feature more pixels per inch than Apple’s iPhone 4S.
It’s tough for even the biggest optimist to find much love there.
In other news today, Sprint also took a swipe at AT&T and Verizon. Perhaps they just woke up on the wrong side of a Monday morning bed?
