RIM Can Survive in 2012?

Year 2011 does not seem to be a lucky year for Research In Motion (RIM). Analysts also seemed to always be pessimistic remark about the sustainability of RIM in 2012. RIM Will it last?

In November, RIM suffered huge losses because the Blackberry Playbook does not sell well in the global market, not compete with the iPad and Android tablet. As quoted by Bloomberg, since it was launched earlier this year, sales continue to decline Playbook.

Sales figures, ranging from 500,000 units in the first quarter of 2011, then 200,000 units in the second quarter of 2011, and only 150,000 units in the third quarter of 2011. If the total, only 850,000 units sold. Sales Playbook is less than the target it causes a loss of RIM reached 485 million U.S. dollars.

The negative impact of delays

RIM has said it will delay the newest operating system, named BB10 until the end of 2012. The delay is because RIM is waiting for the latest dual core processor. In fact, this delay gives room for Apple and Android to increasingly dominate the global market.

In November 2011, the analyst Ian Fogg said, RIM has a track record often postpone the date of the launch of their products. "That does not bode well. We will see a slow decline," said Fogg commemorate RIM.

In a statement, Co CEO of RIM Mike Lazaridis said that it took some time to realize the benefits of the latest operating system transitions performed RIM. "However, we continue to believe that RIM has the strength and ability to maintain a leading role in the mobile communications industry," Lazaridis said.

Both CEO of RIM, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, was willing to cut their salaries to $ 1 per year until the company improves. This was done because the value of RIM's stock continues to decline.

Heyday has passed?

RIM profit until the third quarter of 2011 dropped 71 percent (year on year) from 911.1 million U.S. dollars to 265 million U.S. dollars. Lazaridis also aggravate the discontent of the investors by cutting the Blackberry product sales target to around 11-12 million units in the final quarter of 2012. In fact, in the same period last year, sales reached 14.8 million units of the Blackberry.

Additionally, the Blackberry operating system market share in the United States also dropped. According to pollsters The NDP Group, the Blackberry OS market share in the U.S. this year dropped to 10 percent.

Blackberry heyday occurred in 2009 when they earned 44 percent of the smartphone market in the U.S., beating the IOS and Android. However, BBOS popularity began to decline in 2010 with the acquisition of 25 percent of the market.

However, RIM still has a loyal customer of businessmen who consider Blackberry secure communication systems. However, the system is safe for business people often make conservative government threatened to block the Blackberry service if they are not given the opportunity to control the communication of the Blackberry.

What to do?

Some investors have pushed RIM to release the hardware business as well as open systems and networks for Blackberry smartphones from other vendors. Similar disclosed ThinkEquity analyst Mark McKechnie.

"If they want to maintain the assets, they need to open up the Blackberry to another platform and see themselves as a software company," McKechnie said, as quoted by Reuters.

Analysis of McKechnie's as if to say, this is the way for RIM to survive until the following years. That is, if RIM heartened off the system and network Blackberry and not too late to do it.