Research and Motion Gets Pushed Aside – RIMM

In what seems to be a heartbreaking year for Research in Motion (RIMM), the phone producer has yet another obstacle to hurdle as it was just downgraded the other day from buy to sell. While these type of downgrades happen all the time, the fact is that RIM’s problems really have nothing to do with the company itself, rather more and better competition entering the smart phone market.

It was just a few years back that RIM had taken the mobile phone industry by storm through their still popular Blackberry smart phones. The stock was up in the $150′s, now it sits at only 1/3 of that price and pretty much no hope of reaching those levels again; however, just as quickly as that stock went up it quickly came down and was added to my Black list.

Now as Apple (AAPL) becomes a permanent fixture in the smart phone market with their iPhone and Motorola (MOT) set to take away more market share with their new “Droid” smart phone, what once was dominated by the RIM’s Blackberry seems to be nothing more than an after thought… especially with the complete failure that was the Blackberry Storm.

The whole situation is just another notch on the list, and shows why its not always the best to show up to the party first. Take a look at Friendster, Myspace, AOL, and so many others. While you can argue these companies brought something new to the table, the outcome is that eventually others took that idea, made it better, and eventually took over the market share.

While I still believe RIM is down and should stay on my Black List, their is still some hope for RIM. For one, the jury is still out on the Droid. While there are a bunch of promising features and specs for the Droid, that doesn’t stop it from being a complete flop. Also, maybe RIM can do a better job this time around with the Blackberry Storm 2… but I wouldn’t bet on it.