Late Monday, in the wake of a significant warning on financial losses and job cuts, Canadian vendor BlackBerry announced its intention to be acquired by a consortium led by holdings company Fairfax Financial for $4.7bn.
The board of directors at Canadian device maker BlackBerry has formed a Special Committee to weigh up the idea of selling the firm or running it as a joint venture with a partner. The firm said it would “explore strategic alternatives to enhance value and increase scale in order to accelerate BlackBerry 10 deployment”. It admitted that possible alternatives could include “possible joint ventures, strategic partnerships or alliances, a sale of the Company or other possible transactions”.
Canadian handset manufacturer BlackBerry has unveiled its long-awaited BlackBerry 10 operating system. At an event in New York yesterday, CEO Thorsten Heins revealed two devices running on the OS and announced the new brand name of the company, which was formerly known as RIM.
Despite having seen its market share drop considerably over the past two years and having delayed the launch of the platform several times, Canadian handset firm BlackBerry launched its BlackBerry 10 platform this week, still hoping to disrupt a smartphone market dominated by iOS and Android.
Canadian BlackBerry maker RIM has a lot to prove wtih the launch of its Blackberry 10 (BB10) operating system later today. The handset vendor’s struggles have been much publicised—after posting disappointing financial results throughout last year it watched its share of the global smartphone market drop to just 4.1 per cent in 2012, according to data from Informa’s Intelligence Centre. In 2010 it had been more than 17 per cent.
Troubled Canadian vendor Research In Motion (RIM) is maintaining its relevance in the industry through QNX, the software subsidiary it bought in 2010, by focusing on connected cars.
Embattled handset manufacturers Nokia and RIM are now locked in a dispute with each other over patents in the US, Canada and UK. The two firms are fighting over intellectual property they have licensed to each other since 2003, which enables phones to connect to wifi networks.
Back in June, Telecoms.com asked whether a refreshed software platform was enough to help embattled vendor RIM back on its feet. As the BlackBerry developer tour kicks off in the US, first reports suggest that it may well be.
Struggling Canadian smartphone and tablet outfit RIM has announced a 4G LTE enabled version of its PlayBook tablet. The device will go on from 9 August initially in Canada, and will work on the LTE networks of all three local operators, Telus, Bell and Rogers.
Struggling Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM) has been ordered to pay $147.2m to mobile device management (MDM) solutions provider Mformation for infringing its wireless MDM patents. The US Federal District Court of Northern California has ruled that RIM’s BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), which is used by corporate enterprise customers to manage and secure their BlackBerry devices, infringed upon Mformation’s design patents.
Canadian vendor RIM said it has now seen three billion apps downloaded for BlackBerry smartphones and the PlayBook tablet from its App World store, since it was launched in March 2009.
Canadian Blackberry manufacturer RIM had a torrid 2011, in which it generated a lot of negative publicity by underperforming financially, experiencing a high profile outage, facing calls from shareholders to sell up and seeing its co-CEOs and founders step down. Its message to stakeholders during this difficult time has been a call for patience, with claims that the next software platform to be released will be a real game-changer. So the unveiling of the BlackBerry 10 platform this week was met with great expectation.
Embattled BlackBerry maker RIM has warned that it expects to post an operating loss in its fiscal first quarter.The firm said it has now has hired JP Morgan and RBC Capital to conduct a far-reaching strategic review and to look for partnerships, while also announcing plans to cut a “significant” number of jobs.
Connected cars are fast becoming the topic that has the telecoms industry’s tongues wagging excitedly. This year, Ford’s chairman gave a keynote presentation at Mobile World Congress, RIM showcased a connected Porsche at its BlackBerry World 2012 event, and Google secured the first ever self-driving car licence in the US. And as the connected car market continues to evolve, mobile operators are finding that they have a key part to play in the ecosystem, and are having to invest time and resources to ensure they are not overlooked as the connected car market matures.
Canadian handset maker RIM has showcased its BlackBerry 10 platform at its BlackBerry World conference in Orlando, Florida. The firm has also released the initial developer toolkit for native and HTML5 software development.
RIM has appointed a new CEO after increasing shareholder pressure and a poor financial performance in 2011. Thorsten Heins will take over as president and CEO, with former co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie stepping down. Lazaridis will become vice chair of RIM’s board and chair of the board’s new Innovation Committee and Balsillie will remain a member of the Board.
Using Las Vegas gadget-fest CES as a platform to rally some support, Canadian manufacturer Research In Motion (RIM) is showing off the latest versions of its flagship operating systems for both smartphone and tablet devices.
RIM could soon split the roles of CEO and chairman in a bid to reverse its fortunes. Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie are currently co-CEOs and co-chairmen at the embattled Canadian handset manufacturer, but that could change following an internal review of its board structure.
Beleaguered Blackberry maker RIM reported more bad news as the firm saw its net income plunge by almost three-quarters to just $265m in the third quarter of 2011. The figure is a 71 per cent drop from the $911m it recorded in 3Q10, and was impacted in large part by a $485m pre-tax charge related to unsold PlayBook tablets.
Canadian device vendor Research In Motion (RIM) has warned shareholders that it has a large inventory of Playbook tablets sitting in its channels at the moment, amounting to a provision for this quarter of around $360m.
