Daniel Shen, Taipei; Jackie Chang,
DIGITIMES [Saturday 22 December 2012]
Smartphone maker Research in Motion (RIM) plans
to introduce BlackBerry 10 to expand market share. According to Thorsten Heins,
president and CEO of RIM, there have been some 150 telecom carriers testing
BlackBerry 10. In addition, there are more than 120 enterprises testing the new
BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, said Heins. The supply chain is also
optimistic about orders for the new product and Taiwan-based suppliers such as
Wistron, Silitech, and Ichia are likely to benefit.
Handset supply chain sources stated that RIM has
been making changes according to trends in the smartphone market by establishing
the new BlackBerry 10 platform to accommodate touch features. In addition, RIM
has been adjusting service fees and no longer bundles products with plans, hence
it is likely to attract more non-enterprise users. Furthermore, RIM plans to
lower the price of BlackBerry 7 to expand market share.
Despite the fact that RIM has postponed the
launch date for BlackBerry 10 twice and has been seeing net losses for three
consecutive quarters, revenues and shipments in 2012 have been relatively
stable, compared to firms such as Nokia. RIM continues to report cash inflow and
a stable financial status.
Handset makers noted that RIM has a strong
customer base in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin
America to make up for the falling market share in Europe and the US.
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