Could RIM’s BlackBerry Eclipse Apple’s iPhone in the Hand-Held Telecom Market?

(NewsVisual, powered by IntellectSpace) -- While all the buzz in the business news community is about the rivalry between Microsoft Corp (NSADAQ: MSFT) and Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG), the less-publicized battle among hand-held providers Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM) has been equally fierce, with the former’s iPhone and the latter’s Blackberry locked into a competitive struggle for marketshare.

Any headway RIM makes in that market could also bring enormous financial benefits to the company’s two Co-Chief Executive Officers, NewsVisual learned.

In a Thursday morning press release concerning its fiscal fourth quarter that ends March 2008, RIM reported on its latest sales projections that could send a chill up the spines of the folks at Apple.

RIM is forecasting that its net subscriber accounts will show an increase from 1.82 million in Dec 2007 to a larger number that will be higher by 15 to 20 percent in its Q4, the company said in its statement.

If these numbers are borne out, the company projects that its BlackBerry subscriber accounts will reach 14 million by the end of Q4.

“BlackBerry smart-phones proved to be a big hit throughout the holiday selling season and we’re pleased to see RIM’s business momentum continuing in the New Year,” said RIM Co-CEO/Director Jim Balsillie in the company’s statement.

He acknowledged that the company was pleasantly surprised when he added the following:

“The seasonal slowdown in net subscriber account additions that we expected in the New Year did not occur, and our focused execution with partners has continued to produce strong results within both enterprise and consumer segments.”

Despite this rosier forecast of net subscribers, the company declined to readjust its earnings guidance and adhered to its previous projections.

The company still expects Q4 revenue to be in the range of from $1.80 billion to 1.87 billion and Q4 earnings per share to be between $0.66 and $0.70, the company said.

NewsVisual created an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map in order to determine who among RIM’s Board of Directors would benefit personally from the company’s increased earnings.

The Knowledge Map immediately showed that Mr. Balsillie enjoys ownership of the company’s stock.

Specifically, by clicking the Map’s link to his Feb 14 2007 SEC Report called a “Schedule 13G,” we quickly saw that Mr. Balsillie reported that he owns 12,432,854 shares of RIM’s stock.

Interestingly, in his separately-filed Feb 14 2007 SEC Schedule 13G Report, Co-CEO/President/Director Michael Lazaridis reported that he owns 13,032,550 shares of RIM’s stock.

On Thursday, the markets went positively giddy over RIM’s new forecast, sending its share price soaring up from the previous close of $97.91 to $107.00 in late-morning trading (11:27am ET).

Therefore, at the price of $107.00 per share, NewsVisual estimated Mr. Balsillie’s ownership in the company to be worth approximately $1.33 billion and, likewise, Mr. Lazaridis’s ownership to be worth approximately $1.39 billion.

Click here for an interactive version of this IntellectSpace Knowledge Map.

(Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

Comments

[DDDD]

iPhone is growing way faster than Blackberry so how is Blackberry going to eclipse the iPhone?
Your article makes little to no sense and is not borne out by real world numbers.
The real story is how the introduction of the iPhone has expanded the smartphone category and benefitted both Apple and RIM to the detriment of Motorala, Palm and Samsung.

By the end of Q4 2008, Apple is on a trajectory to sell more iPhones than Blackberry has sold in its entire history.

[Steven Kuret]

I agree with the prev poster.
>4 million iPhones sold in 6 months, in a smaller geography than RIM. Once iPhones are available in Asia (official release) then RIM will see it's position fall to #2 in the smartphone market.