Kris Thompson, National Bank Financial:
–“At this point there is a chance that we may never see a BB 10 handset given RIM’s track record. RIM is a hardware company and is clearly having problems converting the acquired QNX software [which is the heart of theBlackBerry 10 OS] along with a number of other software acquisitions into a smartphone OS. RIM is intent on launching a “distinct” smartphone platform; all we see at this point is an extinct platform. Are consumers and enterprises really going to wait for another platform? NO!”
–“Investors should expect [handset] shipments to spiral downward unless the handsets are donations.”
–“Service revenue declines; we’ve been warning investors that this cash cow is running out of milk. We believe this
was the LAST quarter of subscriber growth. International consumers are going to wake up soon to avoid BB7 handsets.”
–On another delay of BB10: “First it was the chip, now RIM can’t handle all the code. The story keeps changing; we’re not buying it. RIM is a hardware vendor, not a software vendor. While more is often better, not so much in software code!”
Michael Walkley, Canaccord Genuity:
–“While RIM management remains committed to launching new BlackBerry 10 smartphones, we do not believe BB10 devices will turn around its struggling business. With increased competition and a very low probability the market will support RIM’s new mobile computing ecosystem, we believe RIM will need to sell the company or dramatically change its business model.”
–“Given the 28 per cent gross margin [on handset sales], we believe the hardware business generated a negative gross margin during the May quarter as RIM attempted to sell discounted BlackBerry 7 devices to protect its high margin subscriber base.”