A recent report shows that Research In Motion has lost more ground to Google and Apple in the highly competitive smartphone market in the US. Two brokerages have even cut their price targets for the Canadian makers of BlackBerry smartphones citing concerns that it is no longer capable of keeping pace with the competition. The shares of RIM dropped on Friday after a report by a research firm which said that the slice of the US market for high-end mobile phones which belonged to the company has narrowed considerably in the three months till April. At the same time, the market share of Google’s Android platform rose to 36.4% and Apple’s iPhone gained to 26%. RIM’s share dropped to 25.7% from 30.4% in the previous quarter, according to a report by ComScore. RIM has dropped from second place to third after these latest figures.
According to the notes of an analyst named Shaw Wu, the struggles of the Canadian manufacturer are going to be compounded by the advent of Apple’s new iCloud service which is expected to hurt the company’s prospects. The shares of RIM have decreased by more than 40% in value after peaking at above $70 in February. The grip of RIM on the market has loosened considerably after the sector was transformed by Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android software. RIM shares traded 3.7% lower on the Nasdaq at $38.93, falling below $40 for the first time since March 2009. The price target on the stock was lowered by UBS because of concerns over increasing competition and the uncertainty over RIM’s product launch timings.
It was reported by the tech blog Boy Genius Report, citing multiple anonymous sources that RIM’s new BlackBerry Bold touchscreen model, which was earlier announced for a summer launch in early May, will not be released in stores before September this year.
UBS has said that the reason behind it reducing its price target to $45 from $60 is that it did not believe that the management structure of RIM was optimal. The roles as co-chairmen and co-chief executives are shared by Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, and Balsillie has now also become the chief marketing officer. According to Stern Agree, which recently cut its price target on the stock from $52 to $44, the launch of Apple’s iCloud online music and storage service can also result in some collateral damage for RIM.
