Can RIM Recover? New Article from Maclean's on Research in Motion.

A recent article in Maclean's highlights more of the issues and uncertainties at Canada's technological giant Research in Motion (TSE: RIM).

"RIM’s hopes are pinned on an operating system made by QNX Software Systems, an Ottawa-based company RIM scooped up last year. The software is already running the PlayBook and will eventually power every BlackBerry in RIM’s lineup. But the PlayBook’s troubled launch—reviewers have seized on a lack of key applications, like native email—has raised nagging questions about RIM’s ability to execute its plan. Nor does it help that the updated BlackBerries that were supposed to whet consumer’s appetites in the meantime using the new BlackBerry 7 operating system have been delayed—reportedly because RIM realized midway through their development that the phones would be outdated before they hit store shelves."

Abstract is from: Maclean's.ca

Can RIM recover? With investors and customers losing faith, its fate may rest in a promised ‘super-phone.’

BlackBerry to use Bing as Microsoft Contends with Google's Android now Leading the Smartphone Market.

Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM, TSE: RIM) has announced that Microsoft's Bing search engine, the perennial loser in the struggle for search engine market share, will be the default engine on it's BlackBerry devices. This announcement was made by Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer at BlackBerry World, the industry conference hosted by RIM in Orlando, Florida.


Rival Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) dominates the search market and this move by Microsoft is hoping to take away some of Google's dominant market share. Google's Android phones, however, are beginning to take hold of the smartphone market as well, which has been bad for RIM and many other handset makers. Many industry watchers say that the Android phones are more user-friendly and open to third-party apps than are the phones of their rivals.


According to recent Nielson surveys, Android now has a 29% market share of smartphones in the US. Blackberry is now at 27%, while Apple's sits at 27% as well. Of course, it is important to note that Apple and Blackberry are also handset makers, while Google is not, they simply generate the operating system or OS.