Is Research in Motion (Blackberry) going out of business?

[DuchessofAZ]

I read that Research in Motion (who manufactures Blackberry) was really struggling and may go out of business.  I really want the new Blackberry Z10, but if RIM goes out of business, what happens with support, apps, etc.?

[#2]

In the event of RIM hitting a bankruptcy or going out of business completely you would lose functionality of RIM's native apps or services. I would guess the phone would still work if Verizon supports it but it would be a toss up.

Very risky I would say. If in doubt don't buy it. They could go under at any time and you would be mad.

Years ago I bought a Reveal Sound and Reveal went out of business but another company offered support but as far as product or warranty repair or returns that was a no go.

Also had a company called Storm which made color page scanners also went belly up. left with no support or warranty at all.

Today storm is known as Neat Scanners but its a whole new company. Same with Paperport and Omnipage which are gone now but have reinvented themselves as Nuance again if you get a company going out of business I would stay clear and buy a more stable companies phone or products.

[Camelhmpz]

LOL, no, not even close to going out of business.  The company has no debts, and almost 3 billion in the bank. 

[jlee7]

Omg....people and so called "experts" have been trying to bury BlackBerry (formally Research in Motion) for at least a couple of years now. Just today, I read they have sold more Z10's than the "experts" predicted. People have been saying that crap about them going under, yet they are still here with a an all new OS. It seems ridiculous to me that your phone would no longer function if BlackBerry did all of a sudden to out of business. Then again, is it not possible for any manufacturer to go out of business?  So, therefore its much too risky to buy anything under that thinking. Seems to me that BlackBerry has a huge worldwide following and has now made a device that is competitive with what Americans seem to expect from a smartphone. At least the ones that haven't drank the Kool Aid about needing 4 or 8 core processors and 6" screens..;-)

[#5]

http://www.businessinsider.com/gene-munster-research-in-motion-is-going-to-go-bankrupt-2012-4  http://m.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2012/02/13/120213ta_talk_surowiecki  I could post more or look it up yourself. Even the head of the company is leaving.  As far as sales I remember years ago people went out and paid five dollars for a "Pet Rock" and after making millions went out of business.And they had no overhead and a huge supply base. Rocks come on...  RIM and it is still Research in Motion and they lost millions of dollars, and the customer base has fallen. Google it the proof is all there.  Like I said even companies like Best Buy are having huge problems. They are barely hanging on. Yes they won the super computer center wars, Compusa and Circuit City bit the dust and now Best Buy is getting hammered by Amazon, and other online retailers without brick and  Motar stores.  The writings on the wall.  Remember Palm? Yep they had a gazillion dollars also, but like rim they could not compete.

[jlee7]

If they say it on the internet, it must be true! Because they can't say anything on the internet that isn't true.... LOL...sorry, I couldn't resist. To the best of my knowledge, BlackBerry (the company FORMALLY known as RIM) is currently doing well. Its no secret they have been struggling while getting their all new OS out to the market, but those two articles are again speculation that is over a year old by so called experts with no knowledge of recent developments, since those articles are at least a year old. I'm sorry, I just have little to no faith in talking heads who, it seems to me have agendas or axes to grind, giving financial predictions about companies or industries they have done little to no work researching. And no, the head of the company is not leaving. Don't even know where that one came from...and as for the original post's specific question, I think there is no reason to believe the phone would no longer function properly even if BlackBerry went belly up. People to this day still use their Palm devices. Based on everything I've read, BlackBerry as a company has many things going for it outside of manufacturing devices. If indeed BlackBerry continues to struggle selling devices there are other options than to just go bankrupt and go out of business. I am by no means an expert, just passing along what i know....

[#7]

Yeah I like that commercial also.

The RIM which will be called Blackberry after the shareholders meeting coming up soon can stay in business or go belly up. I don't much care either way.

I never wrote that anything would not function on the Blackberry as far as phone services, but their apps and programs may not.

Palm is DOA their palm net for email and the like has been turned off even before they went kaput.

[DuchessofAZ]

Where did you get information about their assets?

[DuchessofAZ]

Thanks for your reply.  I loved my Blackberry, then I got a Droid X2 and I hate it. I'm no techie, so could you explain your remark about 4 or 8 core processors and 6" screens - are you referring to Apple?

[Ringah]

Blackberry is in no immeadiate danger of going out of business, however they are going downhill in a hurry.

http://press.blackberry.com/financial/2013/blackberry-reports-fourth-quarter-fiscal-2013-results.htm...

The above is a link to their end of year finacial report the company just put out.  Highlights include $1.16 billion in losses for 2012 and $646 million in losses for 2012.  So I guess you could say they are improving.  They have $1.549 billion is cash or cash equivelents.  They do have $3.075 billion in short term debts but nothing long term.

Like I said they aren't going under any day now but they have been sliding for a long time and desperately need the z10 and later the q10 to pick them up.  As to the support I can't see a world where the phones wouldn't be supported because blackberry has too many valuable assest such a patents for anyone to let them just go belly up.  If it came to it someone would buy them out and either offer support through them or outsource to another company.  Look at Palm, a (few) people still use web OS phones even though HP moved it to open source and stopped developing it themselves.