RIM has been in trouble for years so its poor financials for Q2 FY12 aren't a surprise.
What has been a surprise, however, according to market analyst Horace Dediu, is that the company continued to maintain its smartphone market share.
At least, until now.
In Q2, shipments of handsets (10.6 million) and BlackBerry's PlayBook (200,000) dropped heavily.
As Dediu points out, while sales of the firm's handsets actually outnumbered shipments 13.7 million units there's little for RIM to cheer about.
Slipping down life
"In terms of the competition, 10.6 million units is less than half what Apple or Samsung sold in its prior quarter," he says in his latest entry.
"It's also less than what HTC sold. RIMs volume rank will likely go to fifth place as a smartphone vendor."
Dediu reports BlackBerry volume has fallen 11 percent year on year, and is also down 18 percent sequentially the second quarter in a row where shipments have fallen back, despite the launch of new product ranges such as BlackBerry 7 and PlayBook in 2011.
A matter of time
As a result, Dediu deduces RIM's smartphone share could slip to single digits once its competitors' shipment figures are made public, based on the smartphone market's 77 percent average quarterly growth rate.
The company's profitability is down, too, dropping from 21 percent to 13 percent.
"The company did incur some one-time charges for recent layoffs, but even without that charge, the margins would be around 16 percent," adds Dediu. "This is most alarming."
What he finds really interesting, however, is that despite the competition from iOS and Android, it's taken so long for RIM and Nokia to be significantly impacted in terms of shipped devices.
"In retrospect, you can say that Nokias pivot was triggered by its public execution of Symbian, but that assumes that it was preventable - which we know is not the case," concluded Dediu.
"For quite some time RIM seemed immune to competitive pressure. We all were made fools as we called its imminent demise. Then, as Steve Jobs would say, boom!"
[source: asymco]
Data & Research
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.
Related Articles
News
Jan 12th, 2017
Apple expected to reach $1 trillion in lifetime revenues from iOS devices in 2017
Data & Research
May 4th, 2012
Only Samsung standing up to Apple onslaught in the iPhone era, reports Asymco
Top Stories
News
Jun 7th, 2024
Week in Views - The hunt for the new Star Wars game, Xbox goes handheld, and cats versus monsters…
News
Jun 7th, 2024
Week in Views - The hunt for the new Star Wars game, Xbox goes handheld, and cats versus monsters…
News
Jun 7th, 2024
Metacore's Teppo Soininen: “Anybody who has put a game into soft launch knows there’s still plenty of space for f*ck ups.”
Events
Tribeca Games Festival 2024 | North America | Jun 5th |
Angles 24 Freeplay Conference | Australasia | Jun 6th |
Game Audio Symposium 2024 | Europe | Jun 7th |
Future Games Show 2024 | Jun 8th | |
Xbox Games Showcase / [Redacted] Direct | Jun 9th | |
PC Gaming Show 2024 | Jun 9th | |
Steam Next Fest: June 2024 Edition | Jun 10th | |
GamesForum Hamburg 2024 | Europe | Jun 11th |
Popular Stories
as
Feature
Jun 3rd, 2024
May 2024 mobile game charts: Brawl Stars peaks, Supercell rises, and Dungeon & Fighter Mobile’s big China launch
Feature
May 29th, 2024