more... that doesn't mean however that Research In Motion does not need to eventually introduce a more affordable product. BlackBerry 7 devices (Torch, Bold, Curve) remain popular in the East and with RIM scaling back production of that line, at least one of the newest phones (running on OS10) will need to be introduced to fill in the gap.
BlackBerry Detractors Already Admitting Defeat
One of BlackBerry's harshest critics, an analyst at Cannacord which had slashed its sales estimate for BB10 phones earlier this year, is already calling the estimate wrong, off by at least half a million units per month.
Early indicators suggest sales of the both the keypad (Q10) and candybar (Z10) phones are strong however it should be noted that those statistics don't take into account most international markets where the devices have yet to be launched.
Nearly 60% of RIM's 2012 revenue originated outside the US, UK and Canada. In the Middle East where BlackBerry holds the leading share of the market for new phones at 35%, sales of the Z10 phone though not overwhelming remain promising at a rate of just over 250,000 units a month in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The figure doesn't include the Q10, something that has to be taken into account given that the keyboard remains popular among clients in the Gulf region.
Over the past year, Nokia introduced many of its key new smartphones while BlackBerry released nothing new (no full quarters reported on yet). Despite this, BlackBerry somehow managed to sell the same number of smartphones as Nokia in the most recent quarter (4q2013). The 6 million unit figure represents just under 3.0% of the global smartphone market, not bad considering BB10 was out for only a month in limited capacity (not available in the US) and that the phones have received rave reviews since being launched in the United States in April 2013. Altogether, RIM sold 28.1 million smartphones in fiscal 2013 (March to March).
Last month (April 15 to May 10) Research In Motion stock was up +14% making it one of the best performing tech stocks.
Battery life: Can't go wrong with the Q10 !
The Q10 battery is larger and longer lasting when compared to OS7 phones. The result ? 10-12 hours of device use on a single charge, more than double what the competitors have to offer. This is just one reason why I'm optimistic about corporate clients remaining with BlackBerry. Canadian Tire which has over 3,000 corporate users is one of several major companies already committed to the BlackBerry 10 models.
More reasons to buy Research In Motion: 23 of the 25 leading mobile carriers in the US, EU5 and Canada carry BlackBerry's newest Z10 smartphone compared to only 14 for the Nokia Lumia 920 meaning that RIM is poised to eventually outstrip Nokia in smartphone sales. Not bad for a company with a market capitalization 40-70% lower.
RIM is succeeding in the high end market whereas Nokia is making a push for the low end market. I don't expect sales at Nokia to best BlackBerry anytime soon, with Nokia's devices being low-end their margins are quite limited. Even BlackBerry 7 phones are more profitable than Nokia's newest, and profit from one Z10 equals profit from three Lumias.
