RIM: Next-generation phones will be delayed until late 2012

2011 has definitely been a tough year for RIM. BlackBerry became the smartphone that most entrepreneurs and on-the-go businessmen used because the BlackBerry Messenger service proved to be convenient. One of the biggest setbacks the company experienced this year was the three-day outage that literally cut many users off the network. You can obviously expect a lot of backlash over something that lasted for so long.

With regards to the matter, RIM’s chief information officer, Robin Bienfait, issued an apology to users who were greatly inconvenienced by the outage: “You’ve depended on us for reliable, real-time communications, and right now we’re letting you down. We are taking this very seriously and have people around the world working around the clock to address this situation.”

The company then proceeded to try to appease their users by offering them $100 worth of free apps from their app store. This was well-received by some users, while others said that the apps were not enough compensation for all the troubles and hassles they went through because of the outage.

RIM has also had a lot of internal struggles, and their recent announcement probably won’t help the company very much.

RIM has revealed that their next-generation phones will only be released in late 2012. Mike Lazaridis, one of the company’s co-CEOs, stated that the BlackBerry 10 phones require a highly integrated chipset that will not be available until the middle of next year. Because of that, the phones can only be shipped out by year’s end.

BlackBerry sales have been falling sharply in the holiday quarter. RIM enjoys success overseas, but their market share in the US has drastically decreased over the past few months. RIM revealed that its net income had decreased by 71% as revenues fell and because of the failure of the PlayBook.

“We ask for your patience and confidence,” Lazaridis said.

On the delay, BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis said that the guidance was terrible. He also mused if it might be the start of the collapse of RIM. “If consumers abandon this platform it can happen pretty quickly,” Gillis said. “Don’t think this is the bottom.”

Source – MSNBC