1. What’s Next for Research In Motion?
The news that Research In Motion is
looking at last resort split-and-merger
options has definitely gone beyond
the grapevine. Rumors began
circulating last month when it was
reported that RIM hired
bankersRBC and JP Morgan to help
the company formulate alternative
avenues to save it before it finally
runs out of gas.
This course of action, however, was initially put on the
backburner, especially after RIM’s fortunes seemed to be turning
around when they unveiled their BlackBerry 10 mobile operating
system at the BlackBerry World 2012 convention in May.
However, when Apple demoed the superior iOS 6 at last
month’sWorld Wide Developers Convention 2012 – convincing
even the most stalwart Berry fans to finally trade in
BlackBerrys for iPhones – RIM’s merger plans immediately
became an imperative.
It’s no secret that Research In Motion has had an extreme
financial downturn as of late. Once the king of the smartphone hill,
RIM has seen its market share dwindle increasingly
since Appleentered the fray half a decade ago. RIM’s first quarter
fiscal reports for this year indicate a loss of about $125 million,
which is a stark contrast to the $934 million profit they posted in

2. last year’s first quarter; and even that figure is a far cry from the
numbers they were reaching pre-iPhone. As it stands, the
company currently has a net worth of just $1.77 billion, which
really isn’t saying much for a company of this stature. More and
more consumers are driven to sell old BlackBerrysand switch to
the competition’s smartphones as the years went by, deeming the
company’s preemptive effort with the bankers a sound move for
what it’s worth.
The most viable option that RIM sees for itself is in selling shares
of their handset division; and if worst comes to worst, auctioning
the whole division off entirely. The two frontrunners for this
merger deal are Amazon and Facebook, with each company
standing to gain something from the deal, as well as having
certain impediments which could delay (or outright cancel) said
deal.
Amazon is an online retailer of books, movies, music and games
along with used electronics and it wants to have a smartphone
release follow up on its Kindle Fire tablet, and the BlackBerry
acquisition could give it the resources it needs. Interestingly
enough, the company doesn’t have plans of selling
BlackBerrys (or whatever it is Amazon want to call the
smartphones) at a markup. Instead, it is looking to use BlackBerry
as a channel for its mobile commerce venture. However, Amazon
already has something like this arranged with Android; and
although not the full-fledged company-owned channel that they
want, the Android deal is currently working well for them, which
could make them think twice about the BlackBerry acquisition.

3. As for Facebook, the company is actually looking to expand its
business by going into the smartphone market, and acquiring
BlackBerry could give it a much-needed head start. However, the
company is also facing (no pun intended) financial woes of its
own, making the merger deal a second priority for them at the
moment.
However the merger deal may go down, it’s evident that Research
In Motion needs to have something happen if they wish to be
saved from total demise.
Source: Techbility
http://techbility.blogspot.com/2012/08/whats-next-for-research-in-motion.html