Things are not looking too smooth for RIM and they have been looking into how they will save the company. They have changed management a few times and some top manangement officials have had to go themselves.
There have been dwindling sales of Blackberry phones and many folks in the global north, some part of Europe and Asia are moving en mass to iPhone and Android phones.
Despite the growth in Sales in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Indonesia and some other emerging markets, RIM makers of Blackberry are still bleeding.
In a report that was first carried by Reuters citing a British newspaper–The Sunday Times–we read;
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is considering splitting its business in two, separating its struggling handset manufacturing division from its messaging network…
The British Newspaper carried that report without citing sources. Obviously the news was juicy enough to be carried by many technology blogs like Forbes, Gigaom, Businessweek, ZDnet, Bloomberg and many others.
What is the scenario and what is the fate of the company that has connected millions of Nigerians and promoted many to the elite group so to say, like the Blackberry babes?
The article made some comments that Potential buyers would include Amazon and Facebook, adding that RIM’s messaging network could also be sold, or opened up to rivals such as Apple and Google to generate income.
Either they go that way or they retain the company but allow bigger companies like Microsoft to invest in their business.
There is need for RIM to get a path to steer their ship in order for it not to sink. It cannot afford to sink, there are many fans down here in Nigeria and some other emerging markets. RIM is still seeing growth here in Nigeria despite the dwindling sales in other markets. They are currently working with J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and RBC Capital Markets, according to GigaOm, to determine next steps as RIM expects an operating loss for its first fiscal quarter of 2013.
These are scenarios that have been painted. What do you think? Which of the routes do you think is more likely to bring Blackberry back as a strong contender in the smartphone war fare?
