RIM faces GRIM future?

I had blogged about what RIM should do about its flagging smartphone business (click here).

Looks like it was a timely blog post. The senior management of RIM have appointed bankers to search for 'strategic alternatives' (click here for NY Times article on the topic).

In addition to the PC makers without a smartphone/tablet presence, I think facebook might take a hard look at RIM too. They have some ambitions in the smartphone business and their market valuation (despite the recent drop) is many times that of RIM.

Whither Blackberry?

Samsung and Apple are winning the war of smartphones (through different strategies...Apple through a single elegant phone built on its proprietary OS and Samsung through a rapid launch of a  slew of multiple sized devices built on Android). The chart above is taken from a recent Time article.

In the meanwhile, RIMM (and its Blackberry) are losing traction rapidly. Its share of worldwide smartphone shipments dipped from 13.6% to 6.7% in a year's time! Looks like their attempt to get the general populace into the Blackberry Boys' club has not worked.

Given that most folks replace their phone every 2-3 years, RIMM could quickly lose its installed base around the world.

What should it do now?

I suggest the following options:

1) Open up Blackberry Messenger (BBM) by tying up with Yahoo and Google so that Blackberry users can message any Yahoo Messenger and Google user (and vice-versa). BBM is still the big draw for many die-hard Blackberry fans.

2) Woo VoIP developers (such as Skype) to develop a VoIP application for Blackberry OS.

3) Figure out a way to marry BBM and Blackberry email with the Android platform. RIMM will gain access to the myriad of apps for the Android platform and Blackberry users will love RIMM for it.

4) Sell the company to any leading PC manufacturer (HP, Dell, etc) who are lusting for a position in the smartphones/ tablets space. RIMM has relationships with leading mobile carriers around the world. This is a big asset for any newcomer (or marginal player) in the smartphones business. Though this is a drastic move, RIMM is trading at just 6 times earnings and can get a good premium by selling.