RIM Hires Bankers To Advise On Restructuring
http://telegraphafrica.com/2012/05/30/rim-hires-bankers-to-advise-on-restructuring/
By Deji Taylor

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion has retained two banks to advise it on a radical restructuring or outright sale of the beleaguered company.

JPMorgan and RBC Capital have been handed the task of exploring the company’s viable options and suggesting a solution to its gradual loss of market share.

Sources say that the company’s top brass have not ruled out a sale and that all options are on the table. Thorstein Heins, RIM’s chief executive, has acknowledged that the company is facing serious challenges and needs to review its strategic direction.

Shares of RIM (RIM) were suspended in after-hours trading on the news and they fell 13% when trading resumed. The company expects its financial performance to worsen and has projected a loss for its first quarter which ends on June 2, 2012.

It blames the projected loss on increasing competition from its rivals and the delayed migration to the new BlackBerry 10 operating system.

The company also announced that it plans to save $1 billion over the next year and analysts say that job cuts are definitely planned with some speculating that up to 6,000 positions could be eliminated.This is in addition to slashed budgets and scrapping of smaller departments.

RIM, the once-mighty manufacturer of BlackBerry smartphones has seen its market share plunge in recent years as competitors such as Apple and Samsung continue to poach its customers. And while the company has witnessed some growth in emerging markets such as Nigeria, where it remains an aspirational brand, smaller margins in those economies mean that they have little effect on RIM’s bottom line.

It's not over yet.

Useless company that has refused to embrace technological progress. They should crash and sell their patents to companies who know the right thing to do with it.