From: Linda (joelinda1@home.com)
Date: Thu Jun 22 2000 - 14:38:45 PDT
I follow RIM fairly closely because it is one of the stocks I've
had for a while.
Kragen Sitaker wrote:
<<Your correspondent's inability to spell RIM suggests either that
they are dyslexic or that do not have firsthand experience with the
device. Are they dyslexic?>>
RIMM is the symbol that this stock trades under on Nasdaq; it
trades as RIM on the TSE.
ThosStew@aol.com wrote:
<<...the Canadian government is pouring more money in
the backdoor than these guys can possibly spend on marketing in three
lifetimes.>>
From their Feb 2000 year-end statement, RIM received U.S.$4.5M
in government assistance in fiscal 2000 and U.S.$3.5M in 1999.
For the 4th quarter ending Feb 2000, U.S.$2.2M was received in government
assistance, but selling, marketing and administrative costs totaled
U.S.$5.1M. High spending costs relative to revenue was one factor
that tanked the stock price.
Perhaps your friend is referring to the CDN$34M that Technology
Partnerships Canada invested into RIM in April. "Technology Partnerships
Canada (TPC) is a technology investment fund established in 1996 to contribute
to the achievement of Canada's objectives of increasing economic growth,
creating jobs and wealth, and supporting sustainable development."
(From their April press release.)
_______________________________
Not sure if this is of interest to you since it's not technical, but
here's a crude comparison of the RIM pager with other PDA's from an
end-user point of view, from the Globe and Mail, Toronto.
(Unfortunately, the link no longer exists.)
Microsoft re-enters handheld battle
Pocket PC platform takes on Palm, RIM
MARK EVANS
Technology Reporter
Thursday, April 20, 2000
Toronto -- With a full-blown marketing bonanza,
Microsoft Corp. relaunched itself yesterday into the
fast-growing handheld device market with the Pocket
PC -- an operating system that aims to be all things to
all people.
The Pocket PC, which will be part of devices made
by manufacturers such as Hewlett-Packard Co. and
Compaq Computer Corp., puts Microsoft in
head-to-head battle with Palm Inc. for control of the
handheld market.
It also puts Research In Motion Inc. of Waterloo,
Ont., and its new RIM 957 device in the middle of a
battle of titans.
Palm, which makes the popular Palm Pilot devices,
has about 70 per cent of the handheld market.
Microsoft is confident it will be able to break
Palm's stranglehold on the market by giving users the
ability to do a broad range of tasks, such as send and
receive e-mail, listen to music, do word processing, surf
the Web and keep lists of contacts and appointments.
Analysts, however, are less sanguine about the
Pocket PC. They describe it as a stripped-down version of
Windows that simply reflects Microsoft's attempt to
extend its domination of the operating system market.
They also said the Pocket PC does not offer many
new features.
Mark Zohar, an analyst with Yankee Group in Boston,
said the Pocket PC is Microsoft's latest effort to gain a
foothold in the mobile market after earlier
attempts with Windows CE failed.
"They are coming to the table with two strikes," he
said. "This is do or die for Microsoft in the non-PC world."
Mr. Zohar said the Pocket PC's features, such as a
colour screen and MP3 player, and Microsoft's marketing
muscle will probably make it popular with
consumers. He doubts, however, that the Pocket PC can penetrate
the corporate market because of Palm's strong lead.
Somewhat lost amid the marketing battle between
Palm and the Pocket PC is Research In Motion, which
launched a Palm-like device called the RIM 957 last
week. Building on the success of its Blackberry pagers,
which allow users to send and receive e-mail, the
company believes it can carve out a lucrative market niche in
the handheld market.
Jim Balsillie, RIM's co-chairman and chief executive officer,
said the mobile device market will become increasingly fragmented
as consumers demand different products to meet specific needs.
He brushed aside the idea that multipurpose devices such as
smart phones will emerge as the eventual winners.
"You cannot be an appliance and a general purpose
device. It is not a one-size-fits-all market," he said.
Howard Lis, an analyst with Griffiths McBurney &
Partners, said the RIM 957 not only puts RIM in the same
market as Palm but it raises the ante.
"The RIM 957 is awesome," he said. "I have been
using it for a couple months and it is like the Palm on
steroids. The RIM device with Blackberry software
is vastly superior. The Palm offering is not a practical or
feasible solution."
Mr. Balsille said he believes the Pocket PC is part
of Microsoft's quest to carve out a middle ground between
handheld devices and laptop computers. "It's
uncertain about the size and attraction of that market, but they
are relentless in trying to discover it."
While the industry is focused on the battle between
Palm and Microsoft, Mr. Zohar said a more significant
trend is the emergence of the smart phone as the
mobile device of choice for road warriors. He believes that
most people will want to carry one device that
combines the features of a wireless phone and personal
organizer.
"We see the smart phone as the main device you
carry around when you are not in the office," he said, adding
that La Jolla, Calif.-based NeoPoint Inc. is
already making inroads against Palm Pilot with its smart phones.
Microsoft said the Pocket PC has been developed as
a multipurpose product because it will be the technology
foundation for a wide variety of mobile devices.
Rebecca Thompson, a product manager with
Microsoft's mobile device division, said the Redmond,
Wash.-based company expects people will buy
different devices, and then add more functions to meet their
needs. "We are less concerned about how they look
as we are about the information that they can receive."
Microsoft's earlier efforts to move into the mobile
device market with its Windows CE operating system failed
because users complained it was not user-friendly.
Palm capitalized on this failure and extended its
leadership through licensing deals with companies such as
Handspring Inc., Sony Corp. and Nokia Corp. In
1999, Palm had about 70 per cent of the handheld market
while Microsoft had 10 per cent, according to
International Data Corp.
THE HANDS-ON COMPARISON OF PALM ORGANIZERS
Handspring
Visor
Operating System: Palm OS
Colours: Ice, green, orange, blue, graphite
Software applications supported: Runs Palm OS
software
Organizer applications included: Expense, e-mail,
date and address book, memo pad, to do list, enhanced
calculator and calendar, world clock
Battery type: 2AAAs
Battery life: Around 2 months
Memory: 8mb
Price: $249 (U.S.)
Research in Motion
Blackberry 957
Operating System: Balckberry
Colours: Black
Software applications supported: Applications
developed internally
Organizer applications included: Organizer, to do
list, calendar, e-mail, task list, address book, alarm,
calculator
Battery type: Lithium
Battery life: Rechargable
Memory: 5mb
Price: $499 (U.S.)
$699 (Cdn.)
Compaq
iPAQ
Operating System: Pocket PC
Colours: Black
Software applications supported: Microsoft Word,
Outlook, Internet explorer, Excel, 3rd party application
Organizer applications included: Calendar, tasks,
contacts, Internet explorer, notes, inbox, CE transcriber
Battery type: Lithium
Battery life: Rechargable
Memory: 32mb
Price: $400-$1,000 (U.S.)
$499-$899 (Cdn.)
Palm
Palm vx
Operating System: Palm OS, v3.5
Colours: Anodized aluminum
Software applications supported: Multiple
applications developed by Palm and outside developers
Organizer applications included: Dare and address
book, to do list, memo pad, e-mail, expense, games,
calculator, security, Hot-Sync technology
Battery type: Lithium
Battery life: Rechargable
Memory: 8mb
Price: $399 (U.S.)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jun 22 2000 - 14:38:20 PDT