Struggling RIM renames itself BlackBerry

11:30 AM BlackBerry, itself, renames, struggling No Comments

Euan Rocha , Reuters – 1 day

Research In Motion Ltd is changing its name to BlackBerry, the company announced on Wednesday, in move to refresh its tarnished image as it begins marketing a re-engineered line of BlackBerry 10 smartphones.

The announcement, made by Chief Executive Thorsten Heins as the company formally launched the BlackBerry 10, signals the company's hopes for a streamlined identity as it embarks on a make-or-break drive to regain lost ground in the smartphone market it once dominated.

"BlackBerry is how we're known pretty much everywhere across the world other than North America, so we have an iconic global brand and when you have such a powerful brand, you want to make it central," said Frank Boulben, BlackBerry's chief marketing officer, in an interview.

The switch underscores the close attention the company is paying to marketing as it launches a product considered crucial to its survival. In the past, it was roundly criticized for botching the launch of the PlayBook tablet and other devices.

RIM's aging line-up of devices has competed poorly in recent years against the likes of Apple Inc's iPhone and Samsung's wide array of Galaxy devices.

As the company counters with its new line, the name change will allow it to leverage the value of the BlackBerry brand - still a powerful asset in spite of RIM's fall from grace.

"Previously we had Research In Motion, BlackBerry, Bold, Curve, Torch, PlayBook - and that dilutes the BlackBerry brand, which is a fantastic asset," Boulben said. "Moving to a branded house model allows us to focus our marketing on one name only."

That could be crucial for the company, which has undergone a management overhaul changes and a major restructuring, leading up to the launch of its re-engineered line of devices on Wednesday.

"We thought now was the perfect time to accompany that real change with symbolic change," said Boulben, adding that RIM will change its Nasdaq ticker to "BBRY" and its Toronto Stock Exchange ticker symbol to "BB" in a matter of days.

The company will undergo a legal name change after its shareholders pass a resolution to that effect later this year, said a spokeswoman. Until then the company will do business as BlackBerry.

Boulben said the company would have a focused marketing push behind the revamped smartphones - a stylish touch-screen device and a more traditional physical keyboard device that many of its die-hard fans adore.

In keeping with its branding strategy, the new devices will also follow a simple naming structure, said Boulben.

"We want our employees to say, 'I work for BlackBerry.' Our customers to say, 'I own a BlackBerry.' Our shareholders to say, 'I own BlackBerry stock,'" said Boulben. "We want to become what I'd call a branded house versus a house of brands."

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

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BlackBerry maker RIM sued by NXP over patents

3:36 AM BlackBerry, maker, patents No Comments

A Dutch semiconductor company said on Tuesday it had filed a patent infringement suit against Research In Motion Ltd, adding to the BlackBerry maker's troubles and sending its shares tumbling.

An affiliate of NXP Semiconductors NV alleges that versions of RIM's BlackBerry phone and PlayBook tablet infringed on patents issued to it between 1997 and 2008. The patents in question relate to design, data transmission and other features of the devices.

NXP demands a halt to the alleged infringements and seeks to recover what it claims as lost profit, reasonable royalties and triple damages for willful infringements.

It has not specified a dollar amount it is seeking from the struggling smartphone maker, whose share price has dropped about 80 percent in the past year as its market share has eroded.

"It's a lawsuit aimed at extracting some money from RIM at a time when RIM is most vulnerable," said Alex Poltorak of General Patent Corp, a firm that provides patent consulting.

RIM is no stranger to patent litigation. It was almost brought to its knees by a five-year patent fight that began in 2001 and at one point threatened to shut down RIM's U.S. operations. RIM eventually paid out more than $600 million to NTP Inc, a patent holding company, to settle the case.

NXP filed its lawsuit on Monday in the U.S. District Court in Orlando, Florida. RIM plans to hold its annual BlackBerry World conference there in early May.

A RIM spokeswoman declined to comment on Tuesday, citing the Canadian company's policy of not discussing litigation.

Litigation has become a major weapon in a global patent war being waged among makers of mobile phones, tablet computers and their operating software in a market worth billions of dollars.

Apple, Microsoft, Oracle and numerous hardware companies using Google's Android software are locked in court battles over patents aimed at extracting licensing fees from their rivals.

RIM teamed up with Apple, Microsoft and others to outbid Google for a trove of patents sold last year by bankrupt network equipment company Nortel Networks. Google later bought Motorola Mobility in a move many suggested was a play for its patents.

MORE PRESSURE ON HEINS

Based in Eindhoven, Netherlands, NXP was spun off from Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV in 2006. It said it now owned 11,000 issued or pending patents, and generated $4.2 billion of annual revenue.

Up against fierce competition from Apple Inc and phones running on Google Inc's Android, RIM has watched its once-dominant market share erode and sales performance decline.

Last week, RIM said it will stop issuing financial forecasts and that it was reviewing strategic options, such as entering partnerships and joint ventures.

Thorsten Heins, who became chief executive in January when the company's longtime co-CEOs resigned under pressure, would not rule out a possible sale of the company.

General Patent Corp's Poltorak said RIM may seek a quick settlement in the NXP case as pending litigation could complicate any sale talks. Two sources told Reuters last week that RIM has avoided talks with potential suitors since Heins took over.

In afternoon trading on the Nasdaq, RIM fell $1.10, or 7.6 percent, to $13.27; and NXP fell 67 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $25.45.

The case is NXP BV v. Research In Motion Ltd et al, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, No. 12-00498.

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters.

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BlackBerry squeezed, RIM searches for options

1:11 AM BlackBerry, options, searches, squeezed No Comments

Analysts were tripping over each other Friday to lower their price targets for Research In Motion (RIM) after the BlackBerry manufacturer's  fourth-quarter loss didn't even reach Wall Street's lowered expectations.

"Results are going to deteriorate much further over the next couple of quarters," Will Power, senior analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. told CNBC on Friday. 

With long-promised touchscreen handsets still months away from availability, executives at the former smartphone leader must decide if entering into a licensing deal will make up the shortfall.

New CEO Thorsten Heins said the company is considering any and all options on the table, including partnerships, an outright sale or a licensing pact, which analysts think is the most likely prospect.

"We see a licensing deal announced within the next 3 months," Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said in a recent research note, predicting a 90 percent probability that such a deal would take place. Samsung and HTC, both of which now rely heavily on Android devices, might welcome a competing platform, he suggested.

Licensing, though, would "devastate the hardware business" for RIM, Misek noted, which is the last thing the Waterloo, Ontario-based company needs. RIM is pinning its hopes on the release of BlackBerry 10, but Power said a dearth of third-party apps will make competing with Apple, Google and even Microsoft challenging. 

Without a cool touchscreen device to keep customers from defecting, the company has been slashing prices on its existing handsets. It still hasn't been able to boost sales.

On Thursday, RIM reported a net loss of $125 million, or 24 cents a share, in the fourth quarter after booking writedowns on its legacy BlackBerry 7 phones and goodwill.

RIM last recorded a loss under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005, when it booked tax expenses and paid to resolve a patent infringement case that had threatened to shut down its U.S. operations.

On an adjusted basis excluding the writedowns, profit in the latest quarter more than halved to $418 million, or 80 cents a share, from $934 million, or $1.78, a year earlier. Revenue slumped to $4.19 billion from $5.56 billion.

Analysts, on average, had expected RIM to earn 81 cents a share on revenue of $4.54 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Excluding several major writedowns, RIM had adjusted earnings of $4.20 per share in the full fiscal year, after forecasting a year ago it would earn more than $7.50 a share. 

"Of even more concern, RIM took a $267 million inventory charge on its BlackBerry 7 sales only six months after that product family’s introduction, reflecting very poor demand," Simona Jankowski, Goldman Sachs analyst, wrote in a recent note. 

RIM's solution appears to be a re-emphasis on the corporate market and reducing its focus on consumers.

Although Apple has trounced RIM in the consumer market, analysts aren't sure that backing away from consumers is a good strategy; Apple has begun making inroads in the business market, too. Barclays Capital's Jeff Kvaal expressed reservations in a research note, pointing out that more companies today let employees use their own smartphones rather than issuing BlackBerries for corporate use. "We would have preferred RIM emphasize consumer," he wrote.

"The history of wireless is littered with OEMs that had significant product cycle/share gains, but then missed structural market shifts," Jim Suva, a Citigroup analyst, wrote.

With this many challenges facing RIM, Misek said licensing looks like an increasingly appealing choice. Its executives will have a hard time getting favorable terms, though, given the magnitude of its struggles and open expressions of doubt about the company's future from the investment community. "We see this as a good option for RIM but think the changing tactics and RIM's continued poor performance will weaken its negotiating position," he wrote. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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BlackBerry maker, more than 2,000 jobs cut

3:28 AM BlackBerry, maker No Comments

Research in motion said, it is more than 2,000 jobs, or 11 percent of workers, and the severance payment is not its second quarter and full year Outlook.

His said the BlackBerry maker, Chief Operating Officer Don Morrison plans to retire and Thorsten Heins takes the expanded role of COO, product and sales.

RIM said that the workers affected will receive severance packages and outplacement support by the cuts.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM has violated by you product delays and competition from Apple Inc. iPhone and Smartphones, Google Inc.-Android operating system to run.

An analyst said job cuts were slightly lower than expected, but were key to RIM recovery from a slump triggered by stiff competition from Apple Inc. and Google Inc.

"This is not completely unexpected." "I think the size (cut) is a little larger than what that suggests they were," said Jefferies and co analyst Peter Misek. "I think this is restructuring the cost structure to a new growth or distribution reality obviously."

Although their blackberries have dominated the corporate smartphone market was RIM not in a position, this success to the broader consumer market, where rule to translate the iPhone and Android phones. Not in the meantime, the launch of his textbook of Tablet PC, was so successful as the company had hoped.

RIM reported a 10 percent drop in the fiscal first quarter profit in June and gave an Outlook for the year, which was well below what analysts had expected.

Reuters and the associated press contributed to this report.

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