RIM Stock Falls Below Book Value

News
By Jane McEntegart
published

RIM shares dip below book value for the first time since '02.

It's been a rough year for Research In Motion and it doesn't look like it's going to get easier anytime soon. For the first time in nine years, the company's stock this week fell below book value.

BusinessWeek reports that, according to data compiled at the end of last year, RIM's per-share book value stands at $18.92. Yesterday, shares in New York dropped to $18.66, representing the first time since 2002 that the company's share price has been below book value. At roughly 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 2, RIM stock stood at $19.67. By 10:41 this morning, this number had fallen to $18.34, and if analysts are to be believed, it's only going to decrease. BW cites Veritas Investment Research Corp analyst Neeraj Monga as saying RIM shares could drop below $10 within two months.

RIM made headlines last month when it suffered a service outage that affected users around the globe. The company managed to restore services after three days of problems but share prices have suffered since. Once a bright and shining star in the smartphone industry, RIM has struggled to keep up with the likes of Google and Apple. However, the company is optimistic, expecting strong sales of its Bold, Torch and Curve handsets for the next quarter and planning an update for its PlayBook tablet in February. The update, originally scheduled for release this past summer, will bring native email, calendar, and memo features, along with other PIM functions that have been missing since the launch in April.

Jane McEntegart
23 Comments Comment from the forums
  • email, calendar, and memo features,

    how the hell dont they have this already?
    Reply
  • monkeysweat
    it's pretty sad that they make promises to add functionality to a product "shortly" after launch,, yet we have to still see the added functionality and we are only a couple months away from its successor.
    Does not give me confidence to purchase an item such as this.
    IF they had given it android capability by summer
    IF they had allowed things such as netflix
    - They may have had 3 of these in my house instead of none - the original ipad in my opinion is still far superior than this unit, not because of hardware, but because of software support

    IF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE IT IN THE MOBILE WORLD, YOU GOTTA MAKE IT FOR EVERYONE TO USE, NOT JUST YOUR OWN BLACKBERRY CUSTOMER BASE - THIS WAS A PRODUCT DESTINED TO FAILURE DUE TO LACK OF UPDATES FROM RIM
    Reply
  • de5_Roy
    can blackberries play crysis?
    there's the reason ;P
    Reply
  • alidan
    Monkeysweatit's pretty sad that they make promises to add functionality to a product "shortly" after launch,, yet we have to still see the added functionality and we are only a couple months away from its successor.Does not give me confidence to purchase an item such as this.IF they had given it android capability by summerIF they had allowed things such as netflix- They may have had 3 of these in my house instead of none - the original ipad in my opinion is still far superior than this unit, not because of hardware, but because of software supportIF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE IT IN THE MOBILE WORLD, YOU GOTTA MAKE IT FOR EVERYONE TO USE, NOT JUST YOUR OWN BLACKBERRY CUSTOMER BASE - THIS WAS A PRODUCT DESTINED TO FAILURE DUE TO LACK OF UPDATES FROM RIM
    i always thought the way to make it was not screw your coustomers, dont make a mediocre product, and give us what we want.
    Reply
  • dfusco
    Just think back when Blackberries were so cool....
    Reply
  • getreal
    alidani always thought the way to make it was not screw your coustomers, dont make a mediocre product, and give us what we want.
    This is exactly why Apple is so successful!
    Reply
  • JMcEntegart
    username2011email, calendar, and memo features, how the hell dont they have this already?
    RIM initially wanted the PlayBook to be a companion device for people who already owned Blackberry smartphones. The idea was that if you were in the airport, on a plane, traveling for business, etc., you could tether the two via Blackberry Bridge (similar to Bluetooth) and work on emails and documents and the like on a bigger screen.

    However, the company soon realised that by targeting only Blackberry owners, it was cutting itself off from a fairly massive number of potential customers. A few months before it launched the PlayBook, RIM came out and said (paraphrasing here): "It will work great as a standalone device as well as a companion device. It will be great and everyone should buy it." Addressing concerns that users who didn't own a Blackberry wouldn't have native email, calendar, memo, other PIM functions (these being provided by the BlackBerry when the two are tethered), RIM said it would release an update to add these at a later date. So far it hasn't.
    Reply
  • hakkafusion
    dfuscoJust think back when Blackberries were so cool....
    never? lol
    Reply
  • STravis
    Let's see if they figure this out in the short term or if they continue to make bad decisions, relegating themselves to a footnote in the history of technology.
    Reply
  • eatmeimadanish
    Its bizarre when the hacking community can get a touchpad running android, but a technology company like RIM can't figure out how to get basic service running on their OWN DESIGNED product... The fact that they are still in business is the actual miracle.
    Reply