Generally, RIM will partner with companies and license the right to use certain RIM Trademarks
and Logos to companies that have established distribution channels and high customer
satisfaction with a proven product/service which adds performance and functionality to the
BlackBerry® smartphone experience.
Source: http://www.rim.com/legal/trademarks/partners.shtml
Waterloo, Ontario and Clearwater, Florida – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM;
TSX: RIM) and Tech Data Corporation (NASDAQ: TECD) today announced a new agreement
that enables Tech Data to distribute BlackBerry® devices, software and technical support
services to its channel of over 60,000 value-added resellers in the United States. The agreement
also allows Tech Data to support the end-to-end sale of BlackBerry solutions for small to midsized businesses through Tech Data’s new TDMobility offering operated by ActivateIT, a Tech
Data and Brightstar Corp. joint venture company.
Source: http://press.rim.com/release.jsp?id=5227
RIM’s problem is not one of bad ads, or a weak brand. It’s the product,
stupid. RIM has failed to deliver devices that people would choose over the
competition. And since marketing, to succeed, must extend into all aspects
of the relationship between audience and product – then marketing deserves
its share of the blame for the sorry state of RIM.
Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/marcbabej/2011/09/16/rims-product-failure-is-also-amarketing-failure/
In an effort to breathe new life into sales of its BlackBerry PlayBook, Research In Motion
Ltd. is slapping new price tags on its beleaguered touchscreen tablet.On its United
States Website, the Waterloo, Ont.-based company is now offering all three models of
the BlackBerry PlayBook — 16 gigabyte (GB), 32 GB and 64 GB — for US$299, until Feb.
4, 2012.However, in Canada, RIM is offering the 16 GB PlayBook for $199, the 32 GB
model for $249 and the 64 GB model for $399. At the time of its launch in April, some
analysts expected RIM could sell as many as six million PlayBooks in the device’s first
year on the market. However, RIM has sold fewer than a million units, and now has a
stockpile of inventory. RIM has sold just 850,000 PlayBooks over three quarters, or
about 1% of the global tablet market, as it struggles to compete with Apple Inc.’s iPad
and a slew of devices running Google Inc.’s Android software.In December, RIM
announced it would be taking a US$485-million pre-tax writedown on its third quarter
earnings caused by a surplus inventory of unsold BlackBerry PlayBook tablets
Source: http://business.financialpost.com/2012/01/03/rim-alters-playbook-pricingstrategy-as-u-s-marketing-blitz-begins/
Ryan Bidan, Senior Product Manager at RIM, has left to join Samsung. Bidan was a
Senior Product Manager for RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook team but has now jumped ship
and joined Samsung. He’ll take on the role of Director of Product Marketing. He will be
joining another former RIM employee at Samsung headquarters in Dallas, Texas. Brian
Wallace, who was VP of Digital Marketing and Media, left RIM for Samsung just one
month ago. And they’re not the only ones in high profile positions to have left RIM in
recent months. RIM’s old CMO, Keith Pardy, departed in March, followed by Paul
Kalbfleisch, RIM’s VP of Brand Creativity. While a restructuring of RIM that was going
to result in a “headcount reduction” over the next several months was expected, it
appears as if some of the heads are reducing themselves rather than waiting for the axe
to fall.
Source: http://thenextweb.com/ca/2011/07/20/rim-loses-another-top-employee-tosamsung/
There’s no question that 2011 was a year to forget, but so far 2012 isn’t looking much
better. On a conference call to discuss RIM’s fiscal third-quarter results in December,
the co-CEOs revealed that their newest smartphone line, dubbed BlackBerry 10, will not
be available until the latter part of the year. That means RIM will have no major new
products in the North American market for months, and it is already behind the
competition in many respects. Instead, it plans to spend upwards of US$100 million per
quarter to market its existing smartphones in the U.S. When Conlee left, there was no
one with comparable experience and influence to disagree with Lazaridis. Deadlines
were set, launch dates announced publicly, and then blew past. One former employee
says the situation got so bad that internal deadlines simply weren’t taken seriously. As a
product launch date inched closer, it was common for a few teams working on the same
project to realize they were unlikely to make the date, but no one spoke up, under the
belief that another team was even farther behind. Because the teams weren’t fully
communicating, the executives overseeing them had little clue as to the source of the
problems. Balsillie and Lazaridis would push through ideas they felt strongly about, but
the goal of achieving consensus nevertheless created confusion. No one would take
responsibility if a concept failed, so it wasn’t clear who should be disciplined or fired.
Last summer, the enterprise sales and marketing division was among those downsized.
The result is that RIM may have taken its eye off the BlackBerry to rush a tablet to
market that wasn’t yet ready. Ultimately, 500,000 PlayBook tablets were shipped during
its first quarter on sale. Only 150,000 were shipped during the latest quarter, and sold at
deep discounts. The PlayBook makes up just 1.1% of the tablet market, according to
research firm IDC Despite all of the problems the PlayBook caused, RIM can’t ditch it,
even after the company took a US$485-million pre-tax charge in the last quarter to write
down the value of its inventory. The tablet is the only product running the QNX
operating system until the new BlackBerry handsets are released, and RIM needs
developers writing applications for the platform to counteract the perception that
BlackBerry devices suffer from a dearth of apps. As RIM’s stock price plummeted last
year, one of Canada’s savviest investors began buying in massive quantities. Prem
Watsa, known as Canada’s Warren Buffett, is now the company’s fifth-largest
shareholder through Fairfax Financial Holdings, the $9-billion insurance and
investment firm that he founded in Toronto. Watsa held a small stake in 2010,
increasing it as others fled. As of last September, he held 2.25% of the company. The
value of his investment, then worth $252-million, has shrunk by more Another
complication is just how many U.S. citizens will purchase an existing BlackBerry when
RIM has promised an even better one is right around the corner. RIM is slated to launch
the BlackBerry 10 line in the latter part of this yearthan $50-million. The question now
is how many more blunders shareholders will tolerate. Some are already seeking to
loosen the influence of Balsillie and Lazaridis.
Source: http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/66599--how-management-hasfailed-at-rim
Historical Financials (% of reve
nue)
Buf
fett
Criteria / Questi Buffett Intrinsic
ons / Score
Value Calc
Financial Res 20 20 20 201 20 Ave
ults
08 09 10 1
12
BUY
Revenue
Growth
Results
n/a 98 84 35% 33 63% 9%
% %
%
Consistency
Buffett
Formula
(FCF/R
FR)
Gross Profit 55 51 46 44 44 48% 75%
% % % % %
Consistency Pass 5
%
EBITDA
Margin
Consistency Pass 5 Fre 2,12
%e 4
Cas
h
Flo
w
(fcf)
30 31 26 24 30 28% 15%
% % % % %
Buffett Po EBIT Margin 27 29 25 22%25 25%
tential
% % %
%
13%
Consistency Pass 5 Ris 4.5
% k- %
Fre
e
Rat
e
(rfr)
291%
Tax Rates
28 30 33 25% 24 28% 30%
% % %
%
Consistency Pass 5 Buff46,6
% ett 82
Fair
Val
ue
(EV
)
NOPAT
19 20 16 16% 19 18%
% % %
%
9%
Consistency Pass 5
%
D&A
3% 2% 2%2% 5%3%
2%
Consistency Pass 5 Enterpri
% se Value
(EV)
Calc
5%
Consistency Pass 5 + 2,12
% Cas 1
h
Potential Capital
10 12 14 10% 8 11%
Price
Expenditure % % %
%
$66
Source: http://www.wikiwealth.com/research:rimm