“Research In Motion gave investors a jolt when it reported quarterly earnings on Sept. 25. Margins in the current period will shrink and earnings won’t match analysts’ forecasts as the company steps up spending on newfangled devices, the BlackBerry maker said, sending shares plummeting more than 19% in extended trading,” Arik Hesseldahl reports for BusinessWeek.
“Even as RIM said sales increased 88% and profit surged 72% in the quarter that ended Aug. 30, it also said gross margins will narrow to 47% from 54% last quarter,” Hesseldahl reports.
“RIM’s numbers also revived concern that in the face of competition from Apple (AAPL), RIM will incur higher expenses as it makes products snazzier. ‘Apple is really pushing the envelope and now RIM is responding with higher-quality displays and touchscreens, and that is pushing up’ costs, says Samuel Wilson, an analyst at JMP Securities (JMP) in San Francisco,” Hesseldahl reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “James W.” for the heads up.]
I love all the spirited responses. Fun to watch the emotions take over. iPhanatcis are such an easy crowd to antagonize with nothing more than facts.
You haven’t antagonized anyone, Crazylegs. Several people offered different takes on your opinion and you decided to stick your tongue out with your fingers in your ears and declare victory like a coward.
Maybe pasting the RIM quarterly fact sheet and then running away works with WinMo, Symbian and Android fanboys but you’ll need to conjure up some independent thoughts if you wish to argue here.
@Crazylegs
“By the way, how’s that 3G battery life for you guys? Barely getting through a day? My Bold gives me two full days of usage. I simply can’t afford to not have battery life at the end of a day.”
I could get 2 days out of my iPhone too if all I ever did with it is make phone calls!
Crazylegs – Why be a troll ??? Are you some kind of attention seeking freak of nature ???
“I love all the spirited responses. Fun to watch the emotions take over. iPhanatcis are such an easy crowd to antagonize with nothing more than facts.”
Are all iphone owners also PS3 owners and have to ride the wave of my device is “BEST”? The smartphone market is going through a huge growth period and it is large enough for a few hardware vendors. I understand Apple has never been a market share leader and it’s a desired goal but the gloating for facts that are not the entire picture is just self serving.
I have both (along with a slew of mobile devices that come across my desk) and the iphone sits in the drawer until the weekend and I use it for web browsing / media playback. This past week the last iphone we had out was returned with the usual response the other 15 had “nice but I’m tired of rebooting, lack of battery life etc”.
The continued security issues has caused the security team to reconsider allowing iphones to connect to exchange so it’s just one more security risk till the iphone is locked out. The simple truth is iphone needs a dedicated server similar to BES and they won’t get it from Microsoft so if I was Apple I’d see who I can buy out there if they truely want the enterprise market. (Good?)
As much as you like to believe everyone doesn’t want a iphone, I wouldn’t be shocked to see sales trickle off as more and more people become aware of it’s shortcomings and continued issues (see any apple support forum) Reality is more people are becoming more aware of what a Blackberry provides and it’s rock solid push email. So RIM owes Apple for bringing mobility to the masses.
I agree RIM was lagging in pushing new features on their devices but remember their primary focus was email and voice. iphone is primarily a media device that is email capable so it’s really an unfair comparision as yeah iphone does a heck of alot more then a Blackberry 7290. The Storm/Thunder will be the 1st true feature to feature comparsion and you can bet Verizon is going to market that thing like crazy.
The past week is reaction to investors not happy with the profit margin .. you can’t develop three new device models, increase marketing and lower costs of current devices and keep the same gross. This time next year RIM will be riding a wave of increased market share due to the investment they have made. Apple will be just like they are now .. fixing software issues and making a larger capacity iphone.
This MobileAdmin guy is in a world all his own. He must be a pc phag.
@MobileAdmin:
“The continued security issues has caused the security team to reconsider allowing iphones to connect to exchange so it’s just one more security risk till the iphone is locked out.”
Security issues? What security issues? What security team? Do you mean the local bozos who try to do their best impression of Mordach the Data Preventer? They got a MSCE after sleeping through 8 hours of Microsoft sales pitch and now they think they know something? I found a website that explains the situation pretty well: http://www.thewebsiteisdown.com
The simple truth is iphone needs a dedicated server similar to BES and they won’t get it from Microsoft so if I was Apple I’d see who I can buy out there if they truely want the enterprise market. (Good?)”
@MobileAdmin: “The simple truth is iphone needs a dedicated server similar to BES and they won’t get it from Microsoft so if I was Apple I’d see who I can buy out there if they truely want the enterprise market. (Good?)”
Careful what you wish for. Clearwire, a world-wide WiMax (70 Mbps and 30 mile range) broadband provider, with licensed frequencies that can reach 70% of Americans, is for sale and Apple has $20B in cash.
I wonder what is the average age of MDN readers. Most of the time when a commenter makes a rectifying comment that happens to not be scatophilic about non-apple products, a slew of dogmatic retards just bring him/her down. Go Crazylegs!
The fanatics here just follow MDNs lead. This site is all about flaming and nothing about the truth.
Notice all those adds on this page – all MDN wants is to get page hits. If you get people flaming you get more hits.
MDN is ChrissyONe and ZuneTag. Think about it.
Crazylegs has many valid points, and the market is big enough for both Rim and Apple.
For the poster that said they use their Blackberry for work and iPhone the rest of the time, I’m pretty much the same, but would never discount the true, quick functionality my Blackberry gives me during work hours. My iPhone just can’t compete in either network-connectivity, battery life or true functionality for work – for me at least.
I average 140 to 150 attachment-based, response-required emails per day. If I had to send the equivalent amount of responses with attachments on my iPhone – whether photos or pdf’s – even with 2.1 – which immensely improved my battery life at least – (Crazylegs, I easily get through a 10 hour day now with multiple photos taken and sent, and a small amount of incoming email through Mobile Me and Gmail), there is no way I would make it through the day with my iPhone alone. With my company Blackberry however, I can. Right now, I try to use my iPhone as much as I can for work-related items as possible, but it simply is not at the point where it could replace my Blackberry. Not yet anyway.
I love my iPhone – it is an absolutely amazing device – and is the future of mobile devices – there is no question about it. But this one device will not put Rim out of business, a business that they developed and capitalized on while the iPhone was still a vision in Steve Jobs mind. It’s a great success story and they’re evolving as a result of this incredible device Apple has built and offered the public. That’s a good thing not a bad thing.
They continue to sell an enormous amount of devices, they’re a great Canadian company, and have earned their place in the market.
As for better screen quality on my Blackberry – I haven’t needed it in 5 years, and have preferred the long battery life I’m assuming this has allowed. They build a solid device. I’ve dropped my Blackberry more times than I count and it always weathers the storm. Trust me, Rim will be around..
You don’t need to be a hater, despite what MDN says….
Bold Sucks
1. I am a home user, and can use mobileme. RIM email is useless.
2. Screen waaaay too small.
3. Can’t resize images easily or effectively = useless
4. Web surfing on the iphone is a dream. Web surfing on RIM sucks. Deal breaker.
5. iPhone syncs with all my Apple apps, RIM does not. Again, it’s just a brick.
6. My iphone has 16 GB of memory which isn’t really enough. Bold has 1 GB = what a complete useless joke!!!
7. Keyboard. I am multi-lingual, and can select different keyboards on the iPhone to suit whomever I am corresponding with. Bold is crappy, ugly hardware based POS.
8. Lasts a whole day easy with the iPhone, Bold a bit longer. Guess what? When I get down to 20% power, I turn off 3G and location services and I get another day out of the iPhone with no loss in practical functionality.
Conclusion? A tie?
@ Shado Control
I too have Mobile Me but to say Rim email is useless? You obviously don’t work for a corporation, (you did say you’re a home user, which is great), because Rim changed corporate email for everyone I know. It too has been a landscape-changer.
My productivity – as well as everyone else I work with – went through the roof – much to the dismay of our wives and girlfriends – when they rolled out 55,000 devices. Useless? I don’t think so. Maybe for you, if that’s what you meant.
Web surfing on Blackberry is weak at best – I totally agree with that – however I can use it if I have to check-in for a flight if need be. For everything else I use my iPhone web-wise
I also don’t have an issue with the screen size for the email that I do. It works fine for me. Of course the iPhone has an incredible screen, but it also has a larger power drain.
My Blackberry also syncs my Blackberry apps as well I don’t have a clue what you’re referring to there.
When you say you can’t resize images – are you referring to actual ‘resizing’. I’m not aware of any Apps yet that perform resizing on the iPhone, but I could be wrong. Are you referring to the ‘pinch and zoom’ controls on the iPhone? They’re great. Amazing even. You can also zoom on a Blackberry – it’s not as easy or effective, but it does work.
Your iPhone has 16 GB of memory which you say really isn’t enough – for what? Music, Video, or productivity – as in documents and so on? 16GB, while nowhere near enough to hold all my music and video is plenty. I don’t use my Blackberry for that purpose, that’s what I used to use my iPod for before I got my iPhone. I’ve never had an issue with memory on my old Blackberry 8300.
Blackberry to my knowledge has always had multi-lingual keyboard capabilities. It’s in options.
Turning off services should not be necessary on a device that is touted to be a capable business device. It is going to get better and better though, it’s only a matter of time, and I’m sure the iPhone will improve way beyond what we see today.
As someone that travels 3 to 4 days per week all over the country, if someone said you can only have one device besides your laptop, what would it be? At this point – as much as I would hate doing it – I would still have to choose the Blackberry. For now at least. That will likely change however in the next iterations of this amazing device.
The iPhone, as I mentioned previously, is an astounding device. When you see what it is capable of it really is amazing.
I still like my Blackberry too. But again, that’s just me. For those that can use an iPhone like yourself and not need a Blackberry or the extended battery life it provides – great! I’m glad it’s working for you. Hope it will work for me too soon at some point. We’re not there yet…
Your right I am in a different world: that of a mobile professional for a fortune 100 company supporting thousands of mobile devices so yeah, the things I think about and opinions are a little different then the average home user so buys a device due it’s coolness factor.
@Zeke: In case you missed the ongoing secuirty risks the iphone has had:
1. Circumvent the policy passcode with home screen button – fixed in 2.1 but geez that made a lot of people device when you work for a company that was SEC/SOX regulations to follow. Remember companies deal with NPI data not just itunes content.
2. Image Cached folder – again NPI data and if someone wanted to get information off a iphone without whole device encryption this is a huge risk. CA and soon MA are putting into law mobile devices used for business are REQUIRED to be encrypter. Presently iphone cannot be.
That would be our company security team, every large enterprise has one and yeah they suck but the above concerns are legit so as I said .. continued security concerns won’t do Apple any favors.
@Shado: good points but many of them are not really relevant
1. Are the MobileMe issues resolved? They putting up four 9’s yet? I’ll agree comparing iphone to BIS service it’s a draw but against a BES, blackberry will win hands down.
2. agree – storm should put that to at least a tie ..
3. I guess if you deal with images all day yeah … not a function I use much
4. Again .. web browsing is hands down slick on iphone, deal breaker though? for a home user – sure.
6. Subjective .. if you want to sync your media collection no doubt .. latest Blackberry OS supports up to 32gb microSD cards .. so at least Blackberry is expandable if neeed without having to buy a new device.
7. Blackberry allows input as well viewing pretty much any lanuage needed
I have never been much of a “my product is better than yours” kinda guy .. I buy the technology that I want to use. The pent up hardcore apple users need to stop thinking everything in the world is pc vs apple .. it’s technology and other companies make some nice stuff. RIM is far from anything like Microsoft so stop hating on them due to they are the market gold standard.
@MobileAdmin
@Makemineamac
Thanks for the passive aggression and the lectures about the completely obvious.
But WOW!! You guys really can’t even read. Congratulations!
I suggest you start by reading the first clause of Point 1 again: “I am a home user”. When I say that, I mean I am a private consultant, not connected to any single company or IT department, so I use my phone all day for both personal and business reasons.
Are anyone elses needs in any way relevant to mine? NO!
All the points I made were relevant to me, yet you both insist on contradicting ME with what YOU think is best for YOU or some other corporate user. WHY do I care?! How on earth is that sh*t relevant to me?!
RIM products are only of any use to business folk who have the phone paid for and set up by a corporate IT department. The server alone that the corporation needs to install costs anywhere from 25 to 50 thousands of dollars, depending on a bunch of factors that come into negotiation.
Of what possible use is that to ME?
Maybe this situation will change when their new product line comes out.
Maybe they’ll come out with stuff in some way remotely useful for people who aren’t interested or able to acquire corporate IT provided phones.
Maybe they’ll come out with stuff that syncs with iPhoto, iCal and iTunes.
Maybe they’ll come out with a web browser that 90% of people consider usable. Look at the statistics. Nobody with a RIM uses internet much, and see if you can work out why.
Maybe they’ll come out with something with at least 16 GB of memory, instead of the completely pointless 1 GB.
Maybe they’ll come out with acceptable touchscreen technology instead antiquated hardware based keyboards.
Maybe they’ll have a web store with thousands of web apps to choose from.
And maybe they’ll manage to implement all that as well and as cheaply as an iPhone.
Here’s to the future!
In the meantime, my iPhone does everything I need that the Blackerries cannot.
Cheers
Looks like we have a ‘mobile admin’ wanna be in here that not only has no clue but has his facts skewed big time. If he is fortune 100 we are all doomed.
The best part of this is we are all sitting here making these predictions, giving our opinions like we really know what the vast majority of mobile phone users will eventually do because we have our own unique set of experiences and inherent biases that shape those opinions/predictions. But the reality is that 99% of mobile phone users have never gone on a blog or posted their opinions, etc. They don’t care much. They just want a handset that takes care of their needs and will buy what works for them. So please don’t tell me that everyone wants an iPhone and I won’t tell you everyone wants a Blackberry. I will tell you the market is huge and growing by the day so any mobile handset that brings some form of value to the end user should be able to sell more and more devices in time.
What a “snapy” debate. Where is ZuneTang & his view?
MobileAdmin: There’s a new gold standard!
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I know my post is not going to make anyone change his/her mind but what the hell, here’s my 2 cents.
The iPhone is gonna take over the market. All these RIMMers can just eat their shorts. (All puns intended).
You RIMMers are arguing over what RIM does NOW. The iPhoners and the ones long AAPL and short RIMM (and making money by the way) are looking at WHAT WILL BE.
You guys are like arguing that DELL still has great marketshare and that the Mac will never take off until it starts running x86 and Windows natively.
Duh!
Like one poster said, look at what CRAP RIM has achieved with its extensive channel reach. And what Apple has done in JUST ABOUT A YEAR.
It’s like how crappy Microsoft has been with so many advantages and yet it’s still losing the battles and the war.
Anyways enough said. The only thing RIM can hang onto are the IT administrators who do not want to hassle with iPhone. It is exactly like the Windows job-security thing. Only this time, people are more insistent on using iPhones and they work seamlessly with MS Exchange anyway so there is no more excuse.
IT admin losers. (At least the ones that refuse to evolve due to fear).
“But the reality is that 99% of mobile phone users have never gone on a blog or posted their opinions, etc. They don’t care much. They just want a handset that takes care of their needs and will buy what works for them.”
Yeah, and 99% of the people I talk to, from all walks of life, want an iPhone. The only reason they don’t have one yet is the money thing. Either the device cost, or the carrier contract. Those will change and Apple will release better iPhones at lower cost. Just like iPods.
CLEAN UP TIME!
RIMMers go find another J.O.B. fast. There’s only one thing a company always does, when revenue doesn’t come in.
Yes I agree the iPhone sucks battery life.
This is why I got a desk cradle and/or a USB cable, which is attached to my iPhone and charging it, WHEN I AM AT MY COMPUTER. Which is at least 50% of the day, if not 80%.
All I need is the iPhone to have power when I am away from my computer, or my bedside table, or my car.
The extra benefit of the USB connection is that I can easily sync everything so all my photos, files, music, podcasts, email, addresses, calendar, etc. are in sync. (I get the PIM stuff in sync anyway over-the-air).
This charging business is a MINOR HASSLE when compared to the MAJOR USEFULNESS AND USABILITY of the iPhone. Especially the iPhone 3G. Ever try to find the client’s office in a hurry?
@iPhoneatic
@Battery Life
Those are exact points I wanted to say, but had already burnt up enough time and space and bored everyone.
Thanks for an intelligent and succinct posts.
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