Sales trouble for BlackBerry maker
Posted
Oct 20 2008, 02:00 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
I've been expecting Research in Motion shares to fall below $50, and they are closer to that mark after a Pacific Crest analyst said that sales aren't looking so good lately.
The analyst, James Faucette, has been checking on BlackBerry sales in stores in North America and Europe. Sales of the clamshell BlackBerry Flip are so bad that only one or two sold per store in the first few days they were available, he wrote.
There's more bad news. The BlackBerry Bold has run into software problems, causing U.K. carrier Orange to suspend sales. And in Canada, Rogers Wireless is seeing shortages of the BlackBerry Curve.
To combat these problems, RIMM will have to have "stellar" sales of the Bold and the Storm in the U.S. next month, Faucette said. They aren't for sale here yet. In this economic downturn, for any company to have stellar sales of high-priced smartphones is an achievement.
No one's expecting the current quarter to be a blowout for RIMM. Margins are suffering, and the costs to get the newest phones to market are surprisingly steep. Corporate spending is down and consumers are increasingly hesitant to make big purchases.
RIMM shares dropped nearly 9% Monday to $53.91.
