More Bad News For RIM

By Thea Neuman (Google)

It has been quite some time when Thorsten Heins was appointed as RIM’s CEO and President. Expectations were naturally high from him as everyone was hoping that he would turn out to be a knight in shining armor, but many months have been passed and so far nothing significant has been achieved by this Ontario based tech-giant. Investors are losing their faith gradually in Heins because they are feeling that he is burying his head in sand by neglecting critical situations one after another.

Heins and his entire team is already busy in chalking out big plans but it seems that some or the other stumbling block brings down plans again back to square one. Earlier it was pitiable fiscal quarter result which led to stock crash then delaying BB 10 devices caused much more annoyance to RIM’s already not-so-happy shareholders and worldwide devoted BB fans.

Heins was somehow able to manage things so far but RIM has been hit particularly hard by this fresh controversy which is regarding patent infringement. According to the latest reports, a San Francisco based federal jury held RIM guilty of patent violation by causing huge damages to another company. The concerned company in question who made RIM liable for compensation was Mformation Technologies Inc.

Amar Thakur (lawyer of Mformation Technologies Inc.) gave details about this verdict by mentioning that this trial took three weeks and a jury comprising of 8 members was looking into this whole matter.

What is worth mentioning here; is that this is not for the first time when Mformation has sued RIM. In October 2008, this company held RIM liable for violating patents for remote based wireless devices.

In today’s intensive competitive world, no matter how reputed an organization is, if it fails to recognize an opportunity or threat which a market possesses, investors and fans don’t take much time in switching over. How Samsung stole the limelight by focusing on features and appearance of iPhone and suddenly joined the leagues of leading mobile phone makers is known to everyone now. It did recognize an opportunity on proper time and hence made the most of it, but RIM failed to witness an opportunity; no wonder why it is facing problems right now for its laid back attitude.

One of the things which might lead to negative consequences in future is delaying up BB 10 smartphone launch. Heins is taking his own sweet time in developing BB 10 but is he being pragmatic enough by ignoring the most lucrative holiday season? Another fact which increased concerns of investors is that Apple’s most awaited iPhone5 is due for fall release. If RIM rolls out Blackberry after next-gen iPhone 5 then undoubtedly this will have a negative impact on BB 10 revenues.

Considering that RIM has already lost whopping $518 million by June, delaying up BB 10 release won’t help RIM. In fact, since holiday shopping season is the best occasion to launch new devices, RIM should reconsider its decision and should try to release BB 10 devices when time is ripe. After all, what’s the use of rolling out new ideas once the ship has sailed?