As BlackBerry-maker RIM clings to life-support, more than half of the smartphone’s owners have Apple’s iPhone on speed-dial. More than half of BlackBerry users intend to switch to the iconic iPhone as Wall Street experts pull the plug on RIM’s recovery plans.
The good news for Apple came in a study of 216 smartphone users by Piper Jaffray Apple-watcher Gene Munster. The study found 67 percent of BlackBerry owners plan to buy an iPhone as their next handset. Just 26 percent of BlackBerry owners want to keep the RIM handset. This compares to 94 percent of iPhone owners who said they will buy a new Apple smartphone.
The findings are doubly positive for Apple. Munster also found just 42 percent of Android owners want the Google software to power their next smartphone.
RIM has tried to adopt the Chicago Cubs mantra of ‘wait until next time,’ but with little luck. Several analysts Thursday expressed doubt even new handsets and a new BlackBerry OS could turn things around.
Jeffries & Co. analyst Peter Misek cut RIM’s target share price to $22, down from $24 along with an “Underperform” rating. “Handset shipments will be worse than expected in the November quarter despite the sell-in of new OS 7 handsets,” he told investors. Misek believes the new handsets will get the cold shoulder from carriers promoting Apple’s iOS and Android, instead.
“Preliminary reviews of the [RIM] handsets cite improved speed but a browsing experience still inferior to Android and iOS,” the analyst writes.
As a result, Misek cut his RIM estimates across-the-board. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company should earn $4.8 billion in its third-quarter, down from $5.3 billion. Likewise, the analyst expects RIM to sell 13 million handsets during the quarter, down from 15 million. As for the PlayBook, RIM’s answer to Apple’s iPad, Misek expects 400,000 of the tablets to sell.
The news wasn’t any better from Stern Agee analyst Shaw Wu. Wu cut his RIM target share price to $23 from $27, telling investors the devices “are shipping later than expected but better late than never.” The need to compete with the iPhone and iPad is also shrinking RIM profit margin, slipping to 35 or 37 percent, down from the 39 percent margin the company forecast.
All of this bad news for RIM gives credence to speculation that the firm could be saved by increasing adoption of Google’s Android OS. That is if RIM still has enough strength to leave its sick bed.
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
60 responses to “RIP RIM: 67% Of Blackberry Owners Want To Switch To An iPhone”
rim is doing well in developing countries in fact its thriving, america does not equal the world!
of course it is doing better in developing countries, because those are the countries that need cheaper handsets as not every1 can afford a $700 iPhone and RIM has tons of old crappy handsets to sell in cheaper markets.
of course it is doing better in developing countries, because those are the countries that need cheaper handsets as not every1 can afford a $700 iPhone and RIM has tons of old crappy handsets to sell in cheaper markets.
America = the world, you saw what I did?
I was one of those Blackberry owners. Losing my phone (by accident) and conviently finding out I was due for an upgrade allowed me to get an iPhone 3GS. A bit older, but it works. Couldn’t be happier.
What was the study size? Two-thirds seems like a large percentage!
Things aren’t looking good for Rim, that’s true enough, although they’re faring better in some territories I believe (such as Europe – as well as developing areas others have mentioned)….
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RIM can go ahead and die now.
My nephew was a casualty of last week’s cutbacks. It took him all of ten minutes after being let go to drive to Costco and get a Samsung Galaxy IIs. He loves having the “RIM blinders” off and is very impressed with the IIs. I still prefer my iPhone, but it is a very decent device.
BTW, he says that the executive letter posted a couple weeks back is not only right on the money, it’s how most of RIM’s staff feels.
There will be fewer and fewer RIM jobs in Waterloo. (sorry… I had to)
YAWN…
America is in such a deep financial and economical trouble due to the new super economical powers such as China and India that within a few years from now the average american will not be able to afford a $75.00 Nokia. USA is getting poorer while other countries are getting richer. So the matter of fact is that the money to be made is eventually in international markets and not the USA. No wonder why RIM’s presidents don’t sound so gloomy when they talk about the future of RIM. They don’t seem to care so much about the USA market and for good reasons. Just last week RIM announced that they added another million international users. I don’t know if Apple can make such a claim.
First, you idiot..RIM is a Canadian company..not American..you have no clue what you are talking..we are in debt because we have gone through two wars that has cost around 2-3 Trillion dollars..add to it 9-11…please go back to building my phones and shut the fck up..let the big boys worry about the economy
I definitely have my eyes on the next generation iPhone after my BlackBerry contract is up in Feb 2012.
Hehehe calling me an idiot?!?! Let me show you who the idiot is… I never mentioned in my reply that RIM was american. I know that RIM is Canadian and so Am I. Who looks like an idiot now?
Just to make myself clear. I have nothing against the USA. I have 2 sisters that live in California and the USA is a great country. I was just stating some simple facts about RIM and it’s future in the US and the international markets. Why the USA is in economical trouble is irrelevant to this discussion.
216 people interviewed could be consiered as a representative piece of smartphone users around the globe? So 145 of those will change to an iPhone in the future. I’m sorry, but while most of the companies give freely Blackberrys to their employees, iPhone will remain for Apple lovers… They don’t know what they’re missing…
That’s your problem. You think the rest of the world is like Alaska: far, strange but US territory after all, so things are being done the same way. And it is not. Maybe is due to your British heritage, doing things abroad like if you were at home. You better need to adapt yourselves to where you go…
America = world…sorry
216 people ? wow, that’s quite a sample!
how tiresome, the same garbage being copied and pasted everywhere…
oh, you’re going to be sorry…
(I’m not talking about features, you might even like the iphone, who knows, everybody is different, but the unlimited data plans are over…)
Total number of respondants : 216 people in Minneapolis. Total number of BlackBerry owners : 61. 67 % of 61 = 41. Your headline should have been “41 BlackBerry owners in Minneapolis want an iPhone”, not “RIP RIM: 67% Of Blackberry Owners Want To Switch To An iPhone”, which is utterly disingenuous.
sorry pal things have changed us in deep debt downgrades coming. there will be no one left to lend us money. where will we get these devices from? we have been living beyond our means, borrowing to the limit. the end is in sight. the first victims will be companies like apple who make worthless junk. tons of fart apps
do not waste your money on any junk. bad times are coming.
with us bankrupt apple will have no one to sell to very soon.
it will soon be evident who is the idiot us credit ratings are down. those big boys are worse than little children fighting in street. just replay the drama in congress of the last few days.
I’m a rabid Apple fan and am planning on buying the iPhone 5 sight unseen.
However, I have serious doubts about the predictive value of the survey, because wanting an iPhone and buying an iPhone are two different things. 90% of high school boys want to date the prom queen, but only 1-5 per school will have the privilege. 25% of drivers want a BMW but only 5% will buy one. In the end, 30-50% of smart phone buyers will end up with a free after rebate crap Android device instead of paying real money for an iPhone. (Apple needs a FREE basic iPhone to maximize their market share.)
Also, to those who think emerging economies will continue to thrive if America goes bankrupt… how do you think they make their money? who is going to buy their stuff? Within 1-2 years of the US recession, recession hit nearly every developed nation. The US is responsible for 23-25% of the world’s GDP, and consumes mostly imported goods as well as being the single largest consumer of world tourism. As much as many may hate Americans, you WANT America to do well, as most of the world is in for a “world” of hurt if America goes down.
initially it will hurt everyone but gradually they will adjust and grow, no one is going to lend the us unlimited amount of money to throw on companies like apple and their toys. forget it. usa consumer has to cutback heavily. the russian premier has publically called usa a parasite sucking world’s resources and giving paper dollars in return. china wants a new world reserve cureency so does india europe. the world will find alternatives and move on. 50% of us gdp is just borrowed and printed money. poof will disappear soon. and so will apple’s stellar profits.
First, the company that did the rating made a $2 trillion dollar error and second, who still runs this world.
The problem with the US debt has little to do with wars or welfare and more to do with entitlement spending and just spending in general. Should the US be in two wars? No, I don’t think so. but in the next 10 to 20 years it will not be war that will keep driving the US to complete economic collapse, it will be the pyramid schemes of social programs.
Run the world!?!? How do you expect to do that when you can’t even run your own financial institutions and then you go dumping on them billions of tax payers money so their crooked CEO’s can still make their millions of bonus dollars (your money) while millions of Americans have lost and still losing their homes because they were conned by those same banks.
You are a joke.
You’re* thanks buddy
That`s why americans look so idiot to the rest of the world. You have no fu* idea what you are talking about.
Considering you have no grip on the English language…try this…look at your first sentence and learn grammar you fuck tard
RIM has strange culture, so, they may make good switch.
In RIM if you figure out problem and introduce efficient approach, both manager and his buddy group member will proof their wrong approach works.
just like someone point out driving a car is right way, pushing a car is wrong way, then both manager and his buddy group member will hate you, and proof that 3 person can also move the car by pushing it.
This is one side of the strange culture, another side of RIM strange culture is like: because the manager and CEO are buddies as well , so people will say: yes, it is moving, pushing a car is really right way.
RIM is not system oriented company, just self-destruct small company buddy culture, with a fat body. it is very strange company culture and strange company political environment, RIM’s management may be a typical instance in MBA course.