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- - WSJ Article today (http://www.blackberryforums.com/showthread.php?t=223352)

WSJ Article today

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Not So Smart RIM - WSJ.com

That one is for subscribers also.

Interesting. Well, here's the article:

Quote:

By MARTIN PEERS

The wireless industry may be preparing for a transition to 4G. But Research In Motion is living the high life in a pre-3G world.

RIM reported Wednesday evening that a big seller in its strong fourth quarter was its BlackBerry Curve 8520. That's a low-cost device which runs on what the industry quaintly calls 2.5G networks, a step up from the relative snail's-pace of 2G but well short of 3G speeds.

The device's popularity makes sense. RIM has 3G devices, such as the Bold, which it said sold well in the quarter. Still, it is no secret that BlackBerrys aren't ideal for surfing the Web, regardless of speed. BlackBerry was designed for email, where the connection speed isn't important.

And plenty of people want simple devices. Indeed, RIM appears to be doing particularly well overseas: Revenue outside of North America accounted for 48% of the quarterly total, compared with 29% in fiscal 2009 full-year.

At the same time, RIM's average selling price continues to decline, hitting $311 per unit in the quarter, from $370 a year earlier. RIM forecasts this will fall to between $305 and $310 in the current quarter. Even so, RIM managed to boost its gross margin in the quarter just gone. In part that reflects lower manufacturing costs for the 8520, Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Modoff notes.

Essentially, then, RIM is making hay in the lower-end of the smartphone market. That isn't a good long-term growth strategy. Eventually, many of BlackBerry's users will want a smarter phone. The risk is that many opt for one of the growing array of sophisticated alternatives, like Apple's iPhone. That BlackBerry's fourth-quarter shipments were a little below its forecasts suggests that shift may have begun.

True that the 89xx, 85xx are kind of lower end, but aren't the 90xx, 96xx, 97xx higher end devices?

Wirelessly posted

I took it as overall RIM is still weighted towards the 2.5G. I guess that's true. I don't know.

(I was happy with EDGE as long as I didn't know better. Now that I've watched movie trailers on Poynt, though, man oh man, I'm happy to see EDGE in the rear view mirror.)

I'll actually be happy with 3G.. If you they could just take away 3 MB limit on attachments and emails.

And get that better integration with Gmail working properly.

Good article, but I wouldn't say that the Curves are where RIM is necessarily headed. Many people use their BB for just phone and E-mail, and the ones that want something faster will get a better model in the BB lineup that does do web browsing well. The users who want the most media rich experience might end up going for iPhones and Androids not because of slow data speeds, but if anything, I'd say it's because there are fewer quality apps to choose from with a BB. One needs to look at the big picture and not focus on 3G, 4G, 2.5G, or whathaveyou.

It is also over 2 months old and that's a LONG time in the smarphone/BB world.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TDSWIM (Post 1617510)

I agree, I don't buy a phone to surf the web. I was happy with my 7200 since the most I do is get directions or maybe a phone number. But if you want mobile email that also makes calls then BB is the tool for you...