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RIM may fall short of sales targets post-Storm

updated 12:40 pm EST, Mon November 24, 2008

RIM Falling Short in Q3 08

Research in Motion's heavily promoted BlackBerry Storm launch this Friday may not have been enough to save the company from a poor financial quarter, according to a new research note by Citi analyst Jim Suva. Although the Storm sold out at many Verizon stores since launch, Suva supports claims of a software-based delay and notes that many stores actually received significantly less units than expected, forcing many customers to wait as late as December 15th to get devices they would otherwise have had on launch.

The delay won't immediately affect the number of phones RIM can claim to have shipped but will prevent many of the affected owners from counting themselves as BlackBerry push e-mail subscribers until December, or just after the November 29th end of RIM's third financial quarter for the year.

A lack of new subscribers also pervades other areas of RIM's business, the analyst says. Early data for AT&T's version of the BlackBerry Bold points to most buyers being existing users rather than new customers, while enterprise-class sales are seen cooling across the board and hurting RIM's most reliable market. T-Mobile's new preference for the Android-based G1 as well as the high costs of combo voice and data plans for home users are both characterized as factors.

A sub-par quarter would potentially represent serious damage to RIM, which suffered its first clear setback of recent memory when Apple's iPhone overtook BlackBerries in shipments for the first time during the summer.

 
Previous Comments

slight grammatical error?

11/24, 01:22pm reply

Shouldn't it read "significantly fewer units than expected," rather than, "significantly less units than expected?"

It just seems to look wrong with "less."

rexray

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2002

-1

Plans too high

11/24, 01:43pm reply

I'd get a Blackberry in a heartbeat if the voice/text/email plan wasn't $99 from Verizon. I know they're pushing corporate customers, but I think they'd sell a bunch more units to non-business customers if the plans were more affordable for those without an expense account and would like an alternative to the iPhone.

snork

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Feb 2008

-1

Bad reviews

11/24, 02:59pm reply

There has also been a bunch of poor reviews for the Storm. Since they didn't ship many on the initial run, lots of those potential customers will have more chances to reconsider...

chefpastry

Mac Enthusiast

Joined: Nov 2005

-1

Please...

11/24, 03:25pm reply

We're going to trust an analyst? And one from "Please bail us out of our ineptitude!" Citi?

testudo

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

+1

What's longer than a

11/24, 03:59pm reply

Storm purchase line? A Storm return line. Haha.
Like every major tech company, RIM sales will be down this year. Nothing unusual about this in a poor economy. What's to even speculate about?

Constable Odo

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2007

-1

re. slight grammatical

11/24, 06:49pm reply

The reason it "just seems to look wrong" is because it is wrong. Fewer is used as an adjective when the noun can be counted (fewer cars on the road, fewer people buying PCs, etc.). Less is used as an adjective when the noun can't be counted (less water in the sink, less air in the balloon, etc.).

trevj

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Dec 1999

-1

re. slight grammatical

11/24, 06:51pm reply

The reason it "just seems to look wrong" is because it is wrong. Fewer is used as an adjective when the noun can be counted (fewer cars on the road, fewer people buying PCs, etc.). Less is used as an adjective when the noun can't be counted (less water in the sink, less air in the balloon, etc.).

trevj

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Dec 1999

-1

re. slight grammatical

11/24, 06:51pm reply

The reason it "just seems to look wrong" is because it is wrong. Fewer is used as an adjective when the noun can be counted (fewer cars on the road, fewer people buying PCs, etc.). Less is used as an adjective when the noun can't be counted (less water in the sink, less air in the balloon, etc.).

trevj

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Dec 1999

-1

dang

11/24, 06:53pm reply

I should have hit "Submit" fewer times. :-(

trevj

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Dec 1999

-1

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