> Then boasting - 3B in cash, we are doing just great!
That seems worse than it is when you take it out of context.
In context:
> The company is thankfully in a solid business and financial position
> to tackle the opportunities ahead with a solid balance sheet (nearly
> $3 billion in cash and no debt), strong profitability (RIM’s net
> income last quarter was $695 million) and substantial international
> growth (international revenue in Q1 grew 67% over the same quarter
> last year).
My Translation:
> We're still profitable with a large cash cushion and no debt, so
> we're still in a good position to attempt to pivot our business in a
> bid for survival. Don't write us off just yet.
My point was that past success and cash at hand does not guarantee future success and RIM did nothing to allay the concerns around their repeatedly failing strategy.
So the assurance that we have money and we can try things out is not really in the spirit of the open letter - it is not worthwhile to point out cash at hand in this context.
What repeatedly failing strategy? Their strategy seems to have created a very successful business, although they failed to update it with the changing market. They've acknowledged that and have new products in the works that they hope address their shortcomings.
What would you rather them do beyond this? Claim a major shake up of their internal structure? That would be incredibly damaging to their ability to quickly create and ship the products they need to. Not to mention, as outsiders, we really cannot know if there is even a problem with their internal structure. Certainly a single anonymous letter is not enough information to draw this conclusion.
It seems to me that people just love to see successful companies fail. Perhaps its reaffirming to know that even successful people make mistakes. Perhaps people are just morbid and love to see others suffer. Maybe people are too attached to their current products.
Regardless, all we can do is wait and see. Everyone has noted RIM's precarious position, RIM included. Hyperbolic negativity is unnecessary.
1) Failing to see and then react to the post Blackberry SmartPhone world for years.
2) Failing to have a coherent platform strategy for Mobile Devices before launching straight into Playbook
3) Having no strategy at all - who in their right mind would ship a utterly undifferentiated, incomplete, direction less product first while not making any progress on the SmartPhone front which was ever so crucial.
4) It is 2nd half of 2011 - and RIM hasn't shipped a passable Smart Phone and there is no communication as to what their roadmap is - they probably still don't have one.
You think the negativity is hyperbolic? It is right on the money as far as facts are concerned.
As to asking me what they should do - just ship a damn decent smartphone first that can compete head to head with the competition. Show some innovative, differentiated design and awesome features. Then make a tablet that extends that phone and works well with it.
And I suspect their internal structure is all too much a part of the problem that they aren't able to ship anything decent. So they just need to shake it up - it can't be more damaging than their current status quo - nothing can be. Frankly Mike and Jim are just stagnating themselves - they just don't get it. Fresh thinking is in order one for RIM. Otherwise it aligns with the definition of insanity - performing same actions and expecting new results.
In context:
My Translation: