According to Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ:RIMM) (TSE:RIM) Chief Executive Thorsten Heins, the new line of BlackBerry 10 devices will help boost the company’s growth over the next decade. Heins revealed that the company had identified $800 million of the $1 billion of savings and is on track to finding the rest as it gets ready to launch the new phones.
“There’s this high-level security that you cannot walk away from, and then there’s ‘good enough’ security,” Heins said in an interview.
Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ:RIMM) (TSE:RIM) is pretty optimistic that the new line of smartphones will help it win back the lost market share to Apple Inc’s iPhone and devices powered by Google’s Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android operating system. The handset maker, postponed the BlackBerry 10 phones to the first quarter of 2013, to make sure it does not commit the same error as done with the PlayBook launch. In 2011, in a hurry to compete with Apple’s Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) wildly popular iPad, RIM launched its Playbook, which had top-of-the-line hardware, but its software was far from complete at the launch and needed multiple updates.
“I think it’s all lining up. Sometimes you get the feeling that the universe is in disarray, and with BlackBerry 10 coming, I see the stars lining up,” Heins said.
On operating system, Heins believes that iOS is a downsized computer operating system, while Blackberry 10 is a “true mobile computing platform”. Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ:RIMM) (TSE:RIM) not only believes it has a better Operating system, but also has quality apps. The company revealed in a statement that it is not going after quantity of apps, instead is focusing on app quality.
“The tactic we are deploying is by country and by region. We are aiming to have the most important 200 to 400 apps available, because many applications are regional and they really do have a regional flavor,” Mr. Heins said.
The Company’s stock has declined by more than 90 percent from a 2008 peak of about $148, and on Wednesday, shares closed at $8.49 on NASDAQ.
“The message to our shareholders is that we understand this is and has been a difficult time for them and for us,” the tall, bespectacled CEO said. “But with the development of the BlackBerry 10 platform we are truly convinced that we will create long-term value for RIM’s shareholders and investors”.
Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ:RIMM) (TSE:RIM)’s new BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10 is in beta testing with 20 key customers — both government agencies and corporate clients, and the company has already provided the demo phones to developers and to carriers. Putting an end to the speculations that the company might launch the new phones in North America, Heins said “We cannot launch every carrier and every country on the same day, but what we have defined is a set of waves in the various regions” and added “It is going to be a global launch. There isn’t one preferred region. We are managing and planning it as we speak”.
