• The Guardian, Friday, June 17, 2011 12:08 PM

Upon dismal fiscal first-quarter earnings, analysts are asking what's really wrong with Research In Motion, and what the future holds for the Blackberry maker. "RIM's platform is burning," the Guardian explains, adding, "It's more of a smoldering." Translation? "RIM hasn't released a major new phone since August 2010 ... It sort-of showed off a new version of the Torch in May; that will actually be released in September. (Way to kill the sales, people.)"

Yep, an aging smartphone line and delays in introducing new devices are widely perceived to be eroding RIM's business, but faster than anyone expected. Meanwhile, "RIM's management knows it has a problem, but doesn't seem to be able to make the shift -- the very difficult shift, it should be noted -- from the old BlackBerry OS to the new QNX platform that is going to power forthcoming BlackBerrys (and already powers the PlayBook)."

For his part, co-CEO Jim Balsillie promises that RIM has "an exciting line of products, services and promotions expected to be introduced between now and the end of the fiscal year. We believe that these, together with the introduction of new tiered service pricing in the U.S. and around the world, are setting the stage for an acceleration of growth in Q3 and beyond."

Read the whole story at The Guardian »