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Citigroup’s Jim Suva has issued a statement to clients claiming RIM’s last quarter of 2008 will be their first quarter-over-quarter net loss, as a result of (get this) enterprise sales lag. RIM’s hurting in their strongest target market?
“Our recent checks show continued strength with the consumer, but some softness within enterprise,” the analyst told clients. “While enterprise softness should not be completely unexpected given the current environment, it is nonetheless a factor which we believe is under-appreciated by consensus.”
Despite RIM surpassing subscriber estimates by 20%, hardware margins will be sitting at a steady US$3.3-billion to US$3.5-billion. Is it possible that recession worries are putting this big of a dent in RIM’s bottom line? Sure, subscribers are up, but that could easily be a result of companies recycling old handsets; it’s to be expected that fewer execs will get the shiniest and newest BlackBerrys. RIM will be announcing their Q4 results on April 2, so we’ll just have to wait and see if Mr. Suva’s dour forecast pans out.
[via National Post]
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
