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“But analysts focused on the downside: The BlackBerry maker said it added only 4.5 million new subscribers in the quarter, missing its target of 4.9 million to 5.2 million; it announced that this was the last quarter for which it would disclose how many new subscribers it was adding; and it has steadily drained its cash reserve,” Corkery reports. “That cash reserve fell to $2 billion from $3.2 billion in the previous quarter, mostly because of share repurchases but also because of higher levels of inventory. In other words, it isn’t selling as many BlackBerry’s as it planned for).”
“RIM executives talked optimistically on a conference call to discuss the earnings about being able to catch up to Google’s Android at the low end of the smartphone race,” Corkery reports. “But the slowdown in new subscribers doesn’t bode well. Short sellers already were on the case, as short interest doubled to 31 million shares at the end of last month from 17.2 million shares at the end of May.”
Corkery reports, “With the pressure on, it could be time to dust off those M&A scenarios that have been floating around for months. Chief among those scenarios: Microsoft acquiring RIM.”
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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “James W.” for the heads up.]