Research In Motion executives faced tough questions from investors during a July 12 annual meeting, with co-CEO Mike Lazaridis insisting that a new slate of BlackBerry devices would ultimately help the company triumph in a harsh competitive environment.
"We’re going to come out ahead," he told the audience, according to Reuters. RIM is apparently readying seven new BlackBerry devices for release at an unspecified point.
But analysts and investors are still questioning — loudly — whether RIM should continue its co-CEO command structure, in which Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie oversee different aspects of the company. RIM has pledged to study the issue and report sometime in 2012.
For the three-month period between the end of February and the end of May, comScore estimated RIM’s U.S. share dipping from 28.9 percent to 24.7 percent. During the same period, adoption of Google’s Android platform rose from 33 percent to 38.1 percent, while Apple enjoyed a slight uptick from 25.2 percent to 26.6 percent.
RIM earned some $4.9 billion in revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2012, down 12 percent from the previous quarter. Net income also declined, and RIM executives acknowledged on a June 16 earnings call that the company is undergoing a particularly turbulent period in its long history.
At the heart of the company’s issues is the aging BlackBerry portfolio, which faces serious competition from the likes of Google Android and Apple’s iPhone. To make matters worse, those rival devices are enjoying increased adoption within businesses, traditionally RIM’s power base.
To read the original eWeek article, click here: RIM Prepping Seven BlackBerry Smartphones, Studying Co-CEO Setup
