Despite the assurances of BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion's CEO Thorsten Heins that the company is not in an irreversible freefall that will eventually end with a splat on the ground floor of bankruptcy and shuttered doors, some of the remaining customers on his BlackBerry network aren't quite so sure, and are preparing in case that splat is indeed forthcoming.
Research in Motion has undeniably fallen on hard times, and its stock has arguably fared even worse, shedding 70% of its value this year alone, and 19% in a single day, June 29, when RIM announced their latest underwhelming results, and also the delay of their new operating system, BlackBerry 10.
That OS says Heins will usher in a new age of mobile awesomeness, and propel the company back to greatness; likely never to achieve the heights it once had, but profitable and successful again at the very least. Their corporate clientele aren't banking on it, and are busily preparing backup plans should RIM fail.
Many Fortune 100 and 500 companies have used BlackBerries as office communication and work tools, giving them to their employees to create an environment where everyone is connected and transparent. Security on the devices was one of the leading reasons large corporations trusted BlackBerries to hold their company's important files and communications.
That is no longer enough. When questioned by Bloomberg, nearly every Fortune 100 company admitted to either having a backup plan already in place for RIM's fall, or actively making the move away from RIM to their biggest competitors Apple and Google at this very moment; disastrous news for a company that will live or die on how many corporate clients it can convince to bear with them.
"My view is that things get so bad this year and in early 2013 that they get forced into a sale," Wedge Partners Corp analyst Brian Blair told Bloomberg. "It gets worse and worse for the next six months, guaranteed."
"The delay may just be the final nail in the coffin," said Sameet Kanade, analyst at Northern Securities in Toronto. "This is not just a disappointing quarter, but is a big question mark about the company going forward."
Do you see any hope for RIM turning it around and having any level of success again? Or is it only a matter of time before the company gets sold, broken up, and/or obliterated from the mobile world?
