BlackBerry Shares Continue to Slide Despite BB10 Reveal

By Kevin Parrish
published

Investors are spooked over the lukewarm reviews and uncertain release dates.

Reuters reports that BlackBerry shares continue to slide despite revealing the new BlackBerry 10 OS and related devices on Wednesday. This decline is fueled by a flood of "lukewarm" reviews, signaling that the company's struggle to gain momentum in a "hyper-competitive" smartphone market is just the beginning.

According to the report, BlackBerry's shares fell 12-percent on Wednesday, and then almost 10-percent on Thursday. Investors are reportedly spooked by reviews and a later-than-expected yet still unspecified launch date of the two announced BlackBerry 10 phones. Analysts have cut their price targets and forecasts, Reuters said.

BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion (or RIM), is looking to make a big splash with consumers this weekend through a Super Bowl ad promoting the upcoming Z10 touch-screen device. But the device isn't launching in the States until sometime around March due to carriers needing more time to test the phone on their networks. Thus consumers will likely have forgotten about the expensive ad by the time the smartphone finally shows up on the market.

Even more, TD Securities analyst Scott Penner pointed out that buzz surrounding the BlackBerry Z10 may be stifled somewhat thanks to Samsung's Galaxy IV device announcement. Also working against BlackBerry is whatever surprises Mobile World Congress 2013 has in store when it kicks off on February 25.

Another problem BlackBerry faces is the release of the QWERTY version of its Z10, the BlackBerry Q10 smartphone. As it stands now, there are no BlackBerry 10 devices on the market. The company plans to launch the Z10 sometime around March, and the Q10 is slated to arrive sometime around April. Like the former device, BlackBerry hasn't set an actual street date for the Q10 phone.

That said, BlackBerry could still lose traction in a growing market full of Android, Windows Phone and iPhone devices as the company slowly rolls out a mere two devices before the end of 2Q13. In the near-term, this could pose as a problem for investors.

"While later-than-expected availability of the Z10 and Q10 devices shouldn't impact the longer-term potential success of the BB10 platform, we believe it does mitigate one of the near-term catalysts for the stock," said Paradigm Capital analyst Gabriel Leung.

A Brief Look at the Technical Specs of BlackBerry Z10, Q10

BB10 Interview With the QNX Boss of BlackBerry OS

Check out our hands-on with BlackBerry 10 on the Z10.

Interview With the BlackBerry Z10, Q10 Industrial Designer

A Complete Video Walkthrough of BlackBerry 10 OS

Read the full live blog here from the BlackBerry Experience

Contact Us for News Tips, Corrections and Feedback

Kevin Parrish
25 Comments Comment from the forums
  • A Bad Day
    From the king of the phones in early-mid 2000s to being tossed into the dumpster...
    Reply
  • house70
    For a company on the brink, like RIM, I would have expected the last year or so to be one full of anticipation, rumor mill churning, their own people working in overdrive and coming out with firm release deadlines that get met for a change.
    Instead, I have hardly heard any news from them, except the mellow "we're working on something, it will come out whenever".
    Guess what, the market (the business customers, their old and reliable base) is in dire need of a phone that can last a few days away from a charger. They put out this new thing with a lackluster battery (IMO, the main shortcoming of this new phone). They could have made it really easy to go and install Android apps on it, instead of relying on the hopes that their own marketplace will attract developers again. Main thing, they could have made this a main selling point: "look at our phone, you can install your Android apps and they'll run natively, no need for you to wait for a BB app".
    I really want them to succeed, but I begin to wonder if they want the same.
    Reply
  • icemunk
    If you want to make some money, I would recommend buying some BB shares now. $13 a share is a buy, investors are fickle
    Reply
  • bystander
    Frankly, customers are sheep. Unless BB was to come out with something completely different and spectacular, the sheep will follow their sheep herder, which currently is Android and iPhone. Win Phone has a chance, but that too is going to be rough, at least they have deep pockets to stick out the slow starting period.
    Reply
  • A Bad Day
    icemunkIf you want to make some money, I would recommend buying some BB shares now. $13 a share is a buy, investors are fickle
    I'm shorting against BB's stock as of now.
    Reply
  • IndignantSkeptic
    Blackberry is a victim of vendor lock-in. It doesn't matter if their system is superior, people will just refuse to re-buy all software. It really shouldn't be his way. It should be that once you buy software you have the right to use every platform's version of it.
    Reply
  • shqtth
    Shareholders bitch about anything.

    They just need to shut up, and their stock will go up, but shareholders screw themselves.

    The more shares get dumped = the more shares go down
    Reply
  • PreferLinux
    house70For a company on the brink, like RIM, I would have expected the last year or so to be one full of anticipation, rumor mill churning, their own people working in overdrive and coming out with firm release deadlines that get met for a change. Instead, I have hardly heard any news from them, except the mellow "we're working on something, it will come out whenever". Guess what, the market (the business customers, their old and reliable base) is in dire need of a phone that can last a few days away from a charger. They put out this new thing with a lackluster battery (IMO, the main shortcoming of this new phone). They could have made it really easy to go and install Android apps on it, instead of relying on the hopes that their own marketplace will attract developers again. Main thing, they could have made this a main selling point: "look at our phone, you can install your Android apps and they'll run natively, no need for you to wait for a BB app".I really want them to succeed, but I begin to wonder if they want the same.Actually, running Android apps would be a sure way to get problems from Google, and that would probably finish them.
    Reply
  • atminside
    some one needs to buy out rim and make it private. Shareholders are short term minded retards that most of them don't know a damn about technology.
    Reply
  • soundping
    atminsidesome one needs to buy out rim and make it private. Shareholders are short term minded retards that most of them don't know a damn about technology.Remember their job creators...
    Reply