Around the Net
Bad To Worse For Research in Motion
- The New York Times, Friday, December 16, 2011 12:29 PM
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for Research in Motion, the Blackberry maker said this week that a new line of smartphones -- which were expected to give the company new life – are being delayed until late next year. “It was the latest, and perhaps most significant, setback in a string of product delays and missteps from the company,” writes The New York Times.
When they do eventually debut, the new phones are expected to replace RIM’s aging operating system, which should give them performance capabilities more like Apple’s iPhone or phones using the Android operating system. Worse yet, the delay was announced during a conference call for RIM’s third quarter results on which it revealed a 71% decline in net income.
The sharp decline was attributed to what NYT calls “giveaway pricing” for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, along with costs related to a global service interruption in October. RIM said its net income was $265 million, or 51 cents a share, falling from $911 million, or $1.74 a share, year-over-year.
