Shares in mobile handset maker Research in Motion continue to fall despite improved app figures and fighting talk from the group\u2019s CEO, Thorsten Heins.<\/p>\n
Last month shares in RIM fell below double digits on the US Nasdaq exchange for the first time in a decade, and on Monday the group lost a further 5.3% to close at $7.67, and at a market cap of $4 billion.<\/p>\n
At its peak, shares in RIM traded at $147, in mid-2008.<\/p>\n
In June, the group halted trading of its stock after it provided a bleak business update and announced that it had hired the Royal Bank of Canada and J.P. Morgan to give the company a \u201cstrategic review.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the end of last month, RIM reported a $192 million operating loss, its first in eight years, and added that it would delay the launch of its new generation of phones until 2013.<\/p>\n
RIM said it would sack 5,000 people – almost a third of its workforce.<\/p>\n
In an opinion piece in the Globe and Mail newspaper, Heins said the twice-delayed BlackBerry 10 platform would \u201cempower people as never before\u201d by linking them to parking meters, car computers, credit card machines and ticket counters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not believe RIM is a company at the end,\u201d he wrote. \u201cRIM is a company at the beginning of a transition that we expect will once again change the way people communicate.\u201d<\/p>\n
RIM’s new marketing chief, Frank Boulben told Reuters on Monday (9 July) that the launch delay of the new generation of BlackBerrys from late 2012 to early 2013 \u2013 after the crucial Christmas shopping season \u2013 would not be a death blow to RIM.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe short delay is not detrimental if the quality is there when we launch early next year,\u201d Boulben told Reuters in a telephone interview on the eve of the company\u2019s annual meeting. \u201cWe will have much more attention and focus and ability to leverage our carriers.\u201d<\/p>\n
App milestone<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite its financial troubles, the company has some reason to celebrate, namely the significant support the App World has received.<\/p>\n The BlackBerry service has garnered over three billion downloads since its launch, with 2.5 million downloads daily.<\/p>\n Research in Motion see the large number as \u201cmyth busting\u201d in reply to the notion that there aren\u2019t any apps for BlackBerry handsets and the Playbook tablet.<\/p>\n There are currently over 90,000 apps for sale on BlackBerry\u2019s App World service.<\/p>\n And despite its woes abroad,\u00a0as much as 65% of the South African smartphone market is taken by BlackBerry devices, mostly as a result of its messaging service and cheap internet browsing.<\/p>\n Related articles<\/strong><\/p>\n RIM delays new BlackBerry launch<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n RIM considers splitting business in two: paper<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n RIM\u2019s new BlackBerry won\u2019t have a keyboard<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n BlackBerry handset manufacturers stop getting RIM contracts<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n BlackBerry make RIM shuffles board, shares drop again<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n