^video comparing BlackBerry's PlayBook and the iPad
Summary
BlackBerry sales are expected to be tied to iPhone sales in its last quarter, with the help of its new Torch smartphone. Many factors contribuled to the sales which includes their great success with their BlackBerry Torch, a touchscreen phone with an improved browser and a revised operating system. Although the smartphone market explodes, RIM has lost four percentage points of global smartphone market share in a year. During their third quarter to Nov. 27, about 14.1 million BlackBerry phones have been shipped out and that would be tied with the amount of iPhones that were shipped out in its quarter. It is also predicted that RIM will earn US$1.64 per share and revenues at $5.40 billion, with gross margin slipping to 42%. When RIM made forecasts for the quarter to Nov. 27, net additions were slow and behind, where analysts predicted to record 5.1 million net subscriber additions. Apple and Google, who are BlackBerry's rivals, have had huge successes with their touchscreen devices filled with applications. During the three months to the end of November, RIM's share price raised 30% after leaking details about its PlayBook tablet computer. Investors and technophiles are anxious to try it out to compare it to Apple's iPad.
Connection
The connection to chapter three is the income from operations, which is the gross profit or gross margin and revenues. Gross profit or gross margin is the sales minus cost of goods sold (the expense that is recorded to reflect the value of the inventory sold during the period). RIM's major source of revenues is selling goods, so it must make enough profit or margin from sales of its goods to cover all the other costs of operating the business. By looking at the gross margin of a company, users can assess the profitability of the company's products, in this case the BlackBerry. You can also find the gross margin percentage, which is the gross margin divided by the sales. You can then use this percentage to examine and evaluate a company's progress. You could determine how well they're doing by observing whether this percentage has been increasing, decreasing, or staying the same and by comparing this percentage with other companies within the same industry.
Reflection
Research In Motion Ltd. and Apple Inc. rivalry has been heating up for some time and both companies have been extremely successful in advertising their products like the BlackBerry and the iPhone. Sales were nearly tied during the last quarter but RIM took it to the level by launching a new video comparing the BlackBerry PlayBook with the iPad. In the video, it shows that the PlayBook loads websites much faster, provides richer content because of their support for Flash, it's animated, supports open web standards, and many more. The PlayBook also has a 3-megapixel front-facing camera for videoconferencing and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera. It is also said to have an "ultra portable design" and "breathtaking multimedia" on RIM's website. Shares will probably go up as BlackBerry gets ready to launch its new tablet early this year, which will create more competition with Apple Inc.
