{"id":26502,"date":"2011-07-20T17:31:32","date_gmt":"2011-07-20T16:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=26502"},"modified":"2011-07-21T20:35:08","modified_gmt":"2011-07-21T19:35:08","slug":"rim%e2%80%a6what%e2%80%99s-in-it-for-microsoft-and-what-about-nokia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/rim%e2%80%a6what%e2%80%99s-in-it-for-microsoft-and-what-about-nokia\/","title":{"rendered":"RIM\u2026What\u2019s In It for Microsoft? . . . and What About Nokia?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The following is by G. A . “Andy” Marken, President of Marken Communications<\/span><\/a> Inc. He has kindly given us permission to republish his thought-provoking article. As with everything that we publish at AlienBabelTech, the opinions expressed are solely those of the individual writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and the opinions of the rest of the ABT staff.<\/strong><\/span><\/span> \u2013Mark Poppin,<\/span> ABT Senior Editor<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n

RIM\u2026What\u2019s In It for Microsoft?<\/strong><\/p>\n

But What About Nokia?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes people expect you to hit nothing but home runs (like Apple) and surpass their wildest expectations (like Google).<\/p>\n

Then there are times when folks don\u2019t expect a helluva lot from a company and yet they consistently manage to deliver under the wire.<\/p>\n

That pretty much sums up RIM\u2019s (Research in Motion) track record the past few years:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Consistently lower sales projections quarter after quarter with lower actual sales quarter after quarter<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Roll-out a tablet that has to shine above the iPad in at least one or two (if not a number of) key areas leaving people to wonder if anyone in Waterloo, Ontario had bothered to buy\/reverse engineer an iPad<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sneak the introduction of an AppleTV competitor even as Jobs said it was a hobby idea (he tends to do that when the product doesn\u2019t fly off the shelves) and there are a hundred or so similar products that have been finding anemic acceptance over the past two years<\/p>\n

Based on stock market value RIM was the shining jewel in Canada\u2019s crown just a few years ago valued at $80 billion.<\/p>\n

On a good day right now the company is worth maybe $14.5 billion\u2026maybe.<\/p>\n

Tough to believe that their Blackberry which was a sure sign you were a mobile executive is now found in the \u201cothers\u201d bin at the store.<\/p>\n

RIM Shots<\/strong><\/p>\n

Okay it\u2019s not quite that bad but it\u2019s time for:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the shareholders\/Canadian government carve the company up and sell the parts<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 some company leader with foresight and a need to step up and buy the assets, IP (intellectual property) and customer base<\/p>\n

Lots of companies would be interested in buying portions of RIM.\u00a0 They\u2019d be easy to afford, easy to absorb.<\/p>\n

Best Options<\/strong><\/p>\n

Selling the whole package thins out the prospects and the names that have been tossed around include HP (Hewlett Packard, Nokia, Cisco, Oracle, Microsoft).<\/p>\n

HP is having enough trouble getting its WebOS spread across their systems and their tablet is still a work in progress.\u00a0 Last thing Leo probably wants is to buy another problem on top of the one he inherited.<\/p>\n

Nokia isn\u2019t well enough to take on another load.<\/p>\n

Cisco dumped its consumer products, shed people and is in the midst of reorganizing to leverage the business\/technology they have.<\/p>\n

Oracle could but why unless Larry did it for his buddy Steve.\u00a0 He\u2019s got bigger fish to fry messing over HP\u2019s Leo.<\/p>\n

Oh sure Google could with a few days click revenues but they\u2019re already under governmental scrutiny and trying to get their Chrome net \u2013 oopps note \u2013 books considered favorably.\u00a0 In addition there\u2019s the challenge of getting cloud notebook, tablet, phone platforms working seamlessly.<\/p>\n

The MS Fit<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ballmer and MS have the most to gain and so does the marketplace:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the RIM user base parallel\u2019s MS strength \u2013 government, enterprise<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 a seamless Win 8 PC, tablet, phone platform plus RIM\u2019s strong, proven, secure communications IP would appeal to users<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A strong third mobile platform (Win\/RIM) would be a desirable platform for business app PC\/smartphone\/tablet developers.\u00a0 A singular platform you could sell solutions for with any of the mobile devices is a strong financial incentive.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RIM\u2019s Cyclone TV would be thrown aside\u00a0 because the PlayStation provides most of the streaming video\/audio, TV capabilities people want in a box so why add a third device to the shelf when you can add features\/capabilities for an active\/loyal customer base?\u00a0 Nope!<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RIM\u2019s IP would fit well into MS patent portfolio and add to the revenue stream with little\/no work<\/p>\n

What about the Nokia relationship MS has already sunk a few billion into?<\/p>\n

Ballmer has four choices:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Transfer the hardware portion \u2013 phones\/tablets \u2013 to Nokia in return for a sizeable chunk of the stock and help it return to a respectable number four device position \u2013 behind Samsung, Apple, HTC.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Buy Nokia as well and have two really big captive customers<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Focus on strengthening his cloud solutions and strengthening his cross-device platform and meet the needs of two hardware partners that individually have good \u2013 not great but good \u2013 sales and potential<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Walk away from his pump-priming investment<\/p>\n

Ballmer should probably sit on the sideline for a few quarters as RIM\u2019s results continue their downward spiral making it less costly for him to look like the knight in shining armor to the shareholders and Canadian government.\u00a0 Then he can swoop in to save the day and save his stockholders a big chunk of change while giving them a strong foothold in the mobile device arena.<\/p>\n

But by 2012 RIM will be either a part of MS or cut up and sold at auction\u00a0 If that happens, it \u00a0won\u2019t be a pretty sight.<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

by: G.A. “Andy” Marken<\/strong><\/p>\n

President<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marken Communications Inc.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andy@markencom.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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