Research In Motion is in trouble, but Jefferies & Co. has some answers, starting with placing BlackBerry software on Apple's iOS and Google's Android devices.
In
the wake of Research In Motion's (NASDAQ:RIMM) dire earnings forecast,
financial experts are making suggestions to help the struggling BlackBerry
smartphone and tablet maker stay afloat, assuming it won't drown from missing
too many boats.
Let's
discuss those boats. RIM, which reduced
its fiscal year 2012 outlook to $5.25 to $6 per share from $7.50 a share, has
seen its stock plummet by more than half from a year ago. The company
reportedly began handing
out layoff notices, and takeover talk at the hands of Microsoft has resumed
in earnest.
This
isn't the bottom for RIM, which is being squeezed
at the high end of the smartphone market by Apple's iPhone and from below by
Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android handsets.
Android
phones keep coming with snazzy, big touch screens and newfangled software with
near-field communication support. Apple's iPhone is selling well on Verizon
Wireless (NYSE:VZW), which was a gold mine for BlackBerry phones from 2008
until the first Droid showed up on the carrier's list.
Moreover,
RIM is struggling to get its BlackBerry Bold 9900 smartphone, which has a touch
screen and physical QWERTY keyboard, to market by September. That's when Apple
(NASDAQ:AAPL) is expected to launch the iPhone 5, which if it launches on
AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon would likely cancel out Bold 9900 sales.
RIM
also missed the push to 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks the current crop
of Android handsets is enjoying on major carriers. All of these factors are
contributing to the belief that RIM hasn't hit bottom.
"Competition
intensifies on all fronts, with Motorola Mobility taking share from RIM, iOS
penetrating the enterprise, and new threats emerging from low-cost smartphones
running Android," said Jefferies & Co. analyst Peter Misek, adding
that Microsoft will have Windows 8 on tablets and Nokia, HTC, Motorola and
Samsung phones.
To
help RIM stop this competitive reaming, Misek compiled a list of suggestions
for the struggling company. First, RIM should embrace its enemies. That is,
enable its BlackBerry Messenger and email applications to run on the iPhone and
iPad, as well as Android phones and tablets in the enterprise.
While
RIM would have to supplicate itself to its rival, it would enjoy subscriptions
and revenue for BlackBerry Enterprise Server.
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