RIM defies critics by finding strong sales growth overseas
Research In Motion Ltd.’s sales of the BlackBerry smartphone trounced estimates last quarter as it gained ground in emerging markets, signalling the company may still have a future in the age of the iPhone.
RIM shares rose the most in almost a year after the company sold 7.4 million smartphones, about 500,000 more than analysts had projected. Shares closed at $7.52, jumping eight per cent on the TSX Friday.
RIM also posted a narrower loss for the period than estimated and increased its cash holdings. That impressed some of RIM’s biggest critics — including shareholder Vic Alboini, who has previously demanded a shakeup in management and strategy.
“Those numbers are very, very positive,” said Alboini, chairman of Toronto-based investment firm Jaguar Financial Corp.
“RIM has taken a step up the ladder, and they can see where they’re going.”
The results show that RIM can gain customers in lower-income markets such as Asia and Africa, even as it struggles to compete in the U.S. with Apple Inc.’s iPhone and devices running Google Inc.’s Android software. The challenge now is a successful release of the BlackBerry 10 phone, the linchpin of the Waterloo, Ont.-based company’s comeback strategy.
RIM’s free BlackBerry Messenger program, known as BBM, has emerged as a selling point in developing countries, where data plans often cost more.
“It’s amazing when you go into those countries and you see how BBM is just kicking it,” chief executive officer Thorsten Heins said on a conference call, fresh from a tour through Asia, the Middle East and Africa. “I mean, it’s everywhere.”