BlackBerry crushed 'for not being Apple'

There’s just no pleasing some people. Canadian gadget maker Research In Motion (RIM) reported that revenues for the quarter to the end of May jumped 107 per cent year on year, and watched its share price nose dive as a result.

While revenues came in at $2.24bn, net profit more than doubled from $223m last year to $482m this year. But the company’s share price has dropped from a pre-announcement figure of more than C$140 to just over C$117 at close of play Wednesday.

Ovum analyst Jeremy Green said that the BlackBerry manufacturer’s beating on the Toronto Stock Exchange is an object lesson in the power of expectations. Although most of RIM’s real world indicators are good – the company shipped 5.4 million devices and stepped up its consumer game to 40 cent of its total user base – the markets had been expecting $2.29bn in revenues.

Green says that in the wake of the first iPhone frenzy and anticipation of the next, “It seems that RIM is being punished for not being Apple – even though it has an entirely credible future roadmap including its own touch-screen device, a much bigger market share, and a highly attractive new product, the Bold, waiting in the wings”.

However, Green also cautions that the failure to meet analysts’ forecasts is never the whole story. “It’s possible that there is also some concern about RIM’s ability to deliver on its increasingly consumer-oriented strategy – although thus far the signs are actually quite good,” he said.