RIM cuts around 2,000 jobs; Shuffles management

RIM announced today that in addition to some management changes, they are cutting about 2,000 employees from their workforce. We knew that some slimming down was on the way for RIM, but weren’t sure of the exact number of employees that would be lost. More on the cuts and other “expense reductions” will be known after the RIM’s next earnings call in mid-September.

“The workforce reduction is believed to be a prudent and necessary step for the long term success of the company and it follows an extended period of rapid growth within the company whereby the workforce had nearly quadrupled in the last five years alone.”

Both Jim Balsille and Mike Lazaridis will retain their co-CEO positions for now however. Along with the cuts comes some movement among management positions at RIM as well. Just a few days ago RIM lost Ryan Bidan to Samsung, and RIM today has announced the retirement of their Chief Operating Officer Don Morrison as well. Keep reading for the full press release.

EA Acquires PopCap Games for $750M

The mainstream, multi-platform game developer giant known as Electronic Arts has acquired PopCap Games, a major contender in the online world of casual and social gaming. In one fell swoop, EA came that much close to their goal of being worth $1bn. Earlier this week, PopCap and EA settled on an acquisition price of $750 million. While some analysts are questioning the high price of the acquisition, purchase, CEO of EA, John Riccitiello insists that the price was fair and just. “Acquiring PopCap extends the leadership we have established since the investment in our flagship casual site, Pogo. It adds to our momentum on the mobile and social platforms and accelerates us toward our goal of achieving $1 billion in digital business in FY12,” he said.

The deal also wrangled in PopCap’s 17.5 million Facebook users, pushing Electronic Arts to be the second largest Facebook game publisher right behind Zynga.

There had been some talk in recent months of other gaming companies putting in offers and bids to purchase PopCap, but they were all turned down. What drew PopCap to EA was, according to Riccitiello, “…their recognition of our culture — the respect that EA shows for games and the teams that create them.”

Perhaps the most exciting part of this deal is how much attention the mobile and social gaming world is getting as a result. After reading through the user comments on most of the news articles, it seemed that a lot of readers were surprised to see how seriously a mainstream gaming company like EA is taking mobile gaming. There’s no doubt that mobile gaming has exploded over the past couple of years, so the merging of these two giants is bound to have a ton of impact on what we’re going to see in terms of smartphone games in the near future. Exciting, isn’t it?

Both EA and PopCap have developed and published many huge smartphone game titles such as Need For Speed, Tetris, Bejeweled, and Plants vs Zombies.

via: bbcool

RIM Co-CEO's given 6 months to prove value of Co-CEO position

The tech and business world has been reporting on the value of a Co-CEO position at RIM for quite some time.  But the chatter really picked up steam with inventor Northwest & Ethical Investments LP called for the roles to be split up last month.  At the annual shareholders meeting this week in Waterloo there was to be a vote on this proposal, but Northwest withdrew their motion and have give the company 6-months to show that this shared CEO role can work.

The rational behind this current RIM hating is a mystery to me.  If the only measure of RIM was their market share position, than I would be at the front of the line wondering WTF the boys in Waterloo are doing.  BUT that isn’t the whole story.

• Are profits increasing each quarter compared to same quarter last year?  YES
• Are the number of devices sold in each quarter increasing over previous quarter?  YES
• Are company revenues not tied to one single product or vertical?  YES, in fact 40% over revenue in previous quarter came from licensing, not hardware sales

“But their market share is slipping and OS7 is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic!” Well OK the BlackBerry has 40% smartphone market share in 2009, but total smartphones in the US as a percentage of all cell phones was only 19%.  So RIM had 40% of a 19% market.  Fast forward to 2011 when many are predicting that Ontario Hydro will turn off the electricity at RIM because they won’t have enough money to pay the bills.  Smartphones now account for 40% of all cell phones in the US.  And RIM’s share is down to 24.7%.  If I was running a business selling smartphones, I’d prefer 24.7% of 40% over 40% of 19% everyday of the week.

Is Waterloo the Garden of Eden?  No, of course not.  I believe that RIM does need to get things rolling and quickly, but the RIM Book of Revelations is not here either.  Kevin’s RIMPIRE Strikes Back campaign is spot on and needs our support!  The BlackBerry platform is here to stay.

Source: Bloomberg Businessweek

via: CB

RIM agrees to consider splitting CEO, Chairman roles

Research In Motion on Thursday said it would consider splitting its Chief Executive and Chairman roles ahead of its annual shareholder meeting next month. Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis currently each occupy both roles, and the pair have been the targets of much criticism from shareholders, analysts and the media since RIM’s earnings call earlier this month. The company said in a statement that it would assemble a committee of independent directors to study the CEO and board roles, and then make recommendations. The news follows an anonymous plea made by a senior RIM executive that was published exclusively by BGR earlier on Thursday. RIM responded by stating that the company is “in a solid business and financial position to tackle the opportunities ahead,” and that it “is more committed than ever to serving its loyal customers and partners around the world.”

RIM’s full press release follows below.

When Jim met Mike

The Co-CEO team at Research In Motion is a bit unusual. Very few companies try the multiple-CEO route; even fewer of them actually succeed. The two Co-CEO’s of RIM, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsille form two halves of a whole. Each of them complements the strengths of the other. As Jim characterizes, “My job is to get the money. Mike’s job is to spend it. ”

When Mike and Jim met, it perhaps wasn’t under the best of terms. Around 1990, Research In Motion had been doing a bang-up, awesome job on making control cards for Sutherland-Schultz. The cards simulated the conditions on an assembly line and let operators see how a new machine would function before actually installing it on the line. Sutherland-Schultz bought so many of the cards that RIM’s annual revenue exceeded $1 million for the first time.

That’s when Sutherland-Schultz decided perhaps it would be cheaper to just buy RIM rather than the cards. Of course, Mike L. would hear none of it; but he still came in to listen to what his biggest customer had to say. Jim Balsille, a vice president with Sutherland-Schultz, was brought in to make the happen. It was during these negations that Lazaridis came to respect Balsille. Mike came to a conclusion, he wanted Balsillie join RIM as a partner. Jim said no.

 

As you may have guessed, Sutherland-Shultz did not buy RIM, and thankfully only a short time passed before James Basillie, Chartered Accountant, graduate of the University of Toronto and the Harvard Graduate School of Business, joined the company. Investing $125,000 of his own money, Jim soon owned a third of Research In Motion.

Mike Lazaridis’ role in the company is generally to make and innovate new technological products. Jim Basillie’s role is generally to focus on getting the money to do so. Jim accounting background and business acumen helped RIM become the company it is today. It was Jim that found the financing needed to keep a fledgling company afloat. It was Jim who successfully took the company public, trading on the stock exchanges as RIMM.

And it all happened because Jim’s company wanted to buy Mike’s company.

via:cb

The Joy of Tech Takes a Crack at RIM’s Co-CEOs

RIM has been getting a ton of flack since BlackBerry World over their co-CEO structure. Nobody really had issues with it for years and suddenly its a hot button issue. Some investors are making noise about RIM’s CEO’s stepping down but just ask Apple and Microsoft how well it works out when a founding CEO steps down. Either way I thought you guys would want to see this courtesy of AllThingsD:

via:bbr

The Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

Our world – the world you can see, the world you can touch – is governed by gravity. Just as the mass of the sun holds tightly to the eight planets of our solar system, it is the enormous mass of the earth, 6 septillion (6*10²⁴) kilograms, that keeps you from flying off into space. Yet in the subatomic world of the very small, gravity appears nonexistent. Einstein’s world of spacetime and the subatomic realm of Neils Bohr and Werner Heisenberg follow different laws, and yet they both exist and create the world we live it. One of the missions of the Perimeter Institute is to study and unify that divide.

In 2000, Mike Lazaridis’ love of science and learning would lead him to create an institution whose mandate was to simply think. Think about the possibilities in explaining the world around us. The founder and Co-CEO of Research In Motion, founded the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics with a personal donation of $100 million. Mike L. wasn’t the only RIM investor; he convinced Doug Fregin and Jim Balsillie each donated $10 million from their own pockets. In 2008, Mike L. donated a further $50 million to PI.

In 2004, the center for learning opened near the campus of the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The Perimeter Institute studies some strange things, and the resident scientists and mathematicians struggle with some very difficult concepts each and every day. Though their understanding of higher maths and physics, they are beginning to tackle some truly difficult questions. Featured on the BBC’s Horizon, several researchers presented credible theories on what they believe may have existed before the big bang.

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada is Research In Motion’s home. RIM began at the University of Waterloo; the company’s buildings sit right off the main campus. More than that, RIM has made Waterloo its home. Through generous donations from its employees, RIM has invested in the city. Jim Basillie donated $20 million to create the Centre for International Governance Innovation with the help of an additional $10 from Mike L.  Even less glamorous donations nevertheless benefit the city. Recently, RIM’s donation to the The Food Bank of Waterloo Region allowed them to purchase a new refigerated truck. This was in addition to the company’s annual food donation drive.

RIM has helped to turn Waterloo into a center for research and development. That in turn puts RIM in the heart of the latest and greatest in scientific achievement. And that’s right where they should be, at the forefront of technology.

via:cb

BlackBerry PlayBook – 500,000 units shipped but what could have been done better?

Having both co-CEO’s at Research In Motion on the investors call today was quite a change from the norm — typically it’s just one or the other. That said, having both Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis on the call gave us all a better perspective of things happening within RIM. As it stands right now, RIM has shipped 500,000 BlackBerry PlayBooks but they neglected to mention the number of PlayBooks were sold, even going to so far as to say they didn’t know — shipping items and selling items is totally separate, if we glance back to Kevins predictions on the BlackBerry PlayBook sales they’re starting to sound more accurate as the information comes forth.

When questioned about the launch of the BlackBerry PlayBook, Jim Balsillie stated he wouldn’t have changed all that much, if anything and that RIM wouldn’t have done it any differently. RIM was criticized throughout the media for the launch of the PlayBook and while Jim notes it could have been a more polished launch and the intial product to be better, but there wasn’t anything to gain by delaying it, everyone was working hard as they could to get it out and much of this was lost on the medias representation of the PlayBook. Jim also noted, that the BlackBerry PlayBook has the best in class hardware and with the OTA system they’ve now implemented the product will continue to show it’s strength as it grows but these features which are highlights for the platform was lost in communication throughout the media.

Needless to say, there are few things that could have been done better with the launch of the BlackBerry PlayBook but — I, personally agree that delaying it would not have helped the matter any. What would have helped would have been better forecasting of the situation at hand plus, having all the tools needed to develop on the PlayBook up and ready but that would have come with better forecasting. Waiting for the BlackBerry Player, Android Player and Native SDK has had a negative impact here and wil continue to until those things arrive. By then though — some of the interest will have waned off. I love my BlackBerry PlayBook but there is a tough road ahead for RIM after todays announcements. I realize they’re working on things to improve the situation but evidently — it’s not fast enough to meet demands of the users.

via:cb

Press Release: Research In Motion Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2012 Results and Revises Full Year Guidance

Here are the numbers!

 

Press Release

Research In Motion Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2012 Results and Revises Full Year Guidance

Announces Plans to Streamline Operations and Accelerate New Product Introductions

Board of Directors Approves Share Repurchase Program

WATERLOO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – June 16, 2011) – Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM), a world leader in the mobile communications market, today reported first quarter results for the three months ended May 28, 2011 (all figures in U.S. dollars and U.S. GAAP).

Highlights:

• Revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 grew 16% over the same quarter last year
• International revenue1 in Q1 grew 67% year over year
• Gross margin in the quarter was approximately 44%, slightly higher than expected due to product mix
• RIM launched the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet in North America and shipped approximately 500,000 units in the first quarter

Q1 Fiscal 2012 Results:

RIM Says 4G PlayBooks Delayed Until Fall, BB7 Devices to Miss Back To School Specials

Today RIM announced their Q1 earnings where they addressed some issues and their plans for the future. I had the chance to listen in and took a few notes and below is some of what I remember from it.  Some things said were not much of a surprise to everyone is that RIM is having a tough time with their transition from their old software system to the QNX system to power what they are now calling QNX Super Phones.  Both Co-CEO’s were present during the earnings call which is a bit out of normal for them and they both also answer questions during the Q&A session.

Some of the key points from the call include:

• A head count reduction – most likely this will translate into lay offs and possibly restructuring within the company.The two Co CEO’s said this was not the case but they did not seem to have good words to explain the announcement.
• RIM shipped an estimated 500,000 BlackBerry PlayBook’s
• RIM encountered problems with the new OS7 during the certification process which caused delays
• BlackBerry 7 and device launch will see a better world wide launch consitency
• 4G PlayBook is delayed until fall
• BB7 devices will miss back to school specials
• QNX is the future platform for RIM- meaning the OS for the next generation of high end devices is on the transition stage and they are making progress on it which is being developed based on the same platform of the PlayBook tablet OS.
• The company has grown fast and the job of Co-CEO’s has increased in demand especially managing the acquisitions.

RIM’s guidance for the future looks a bit cloudy, with expected earnings of  $4.2 – $4.8 billion in revenues, with earnings per share dropping to $0.75 – $1.05 . If you like to listen to the call yourself there will be a replay of the conference call will also be available at approximately 7 pm by dialing (+1)416-640-1917 and entering passcode 4445546#. This replay will be available until midnight ET June 30, 2011.

via:bbr