RIM NEWS ARTICLE: Wednesday, July 21, 1999
Technology News
Research in Motion eyes consumer
market, Europe
More Technology News
WATERLOO, Ont. (CP) -- Research in Motion plans to expand into
the consumer market and start selling its wireless e-mail devices in
Europe over the next 12 months, putting the firm on track to double
sales for the eighth consecutive year.
"What's important is, we have a product that's a home run
(success)," Mike Lazaridis, RIM's president and co-founder, told
shareholders at the annual meeting Tuesday.
"When does something small (RIM's wireless, hand-held device)
become really big? When it becomes the rim of the Internet."
RIM's wireless device, launched as a two-way pager that can be
used to send or receive e-mail, can be used by business people to
access stock quotes, personalize Web content and synchronize
office calendars.
The product, which Lazaridis calls "the first Internet appliance,"
has received rave reviews across North America in recent months --
including testimonials from Microsoft president Steven Ballmer,
America Online's Steve Case and Dell Computing founder Michael
Dell. U.S. mutual fund giant Fidelity has bought a 10 per cent stake
in RIM.
RIM's device has several competitive advantages over the Palm
Pilot VII, a product "characterized as a disaster within 3Com," said
RIM chairman Jim Balsillie.
3Com's Palm products have the lion's share of the market for
hand-held devices known as personal digital assistants, or PDAs.
But RIM's wireless product is smaller, less expensive, has 10 times
the battery life and offers constant connection, he said.
The number of corporations using e-mail is projected to grow by 60
per cent in the coming year, fuelling demand for products that allow
business people to keep in touch with their mail while outside the
office, he noted. "We think we've centred ourselves elegantly in this
trend."
Analysts who follow the company expect that RIM's sales for the
current fiscal year will be in the $130 million to $145 million range.
"Internally, some of our plans exceed those expectations," Dennis
Kavelman, the company's chief financial officer, said in response to
a shareholder question.
For the year ended Feb. 28, RIM had sales of $70.5 million. Profit
for the current year is projected to be double the $9.5 million RIM
earned during fiscal 1999.
RIM's workforce, which has swelled to 360 from 230 a year ago, will
grow to at least 500 over the next 12 months and could hit 700,
Lazaridis said.
Company officials alluded to prospects for expansion, a consumer
product, new features and new versions of existing devices without
going into detail.
Pressed for details and timing, Balsillie would only say that
announcements will come this fall. "I'm giving pretty good hints
here," he said. "These are 1999 things, not 2000 things."
Asked about the possibility RIM might be taken over by a larger
technology firm, he promised that company officials will "deal with
situations responsibly as they unfold."
But he made it clear that management wants to continue to grow
the firm for many years. "My personal objective would be, we're on
Chapter 3 of a 20-chapter book, and I'd hate to miss the ensuing
chapters."
The value of RIM's shares has risen more than six-fold on the
Toronto Stock Exchange over the past year, hitting $40 earlier this
month before falling back in recent days. It lost $5.05 Tuesday to
close at $33.50 in moderate trading.
Company officials said the price drop was the result of profit-taking
by some U.S. retail investors -- the stock is also listed on the
Nasdaq stock market in the U.S. -- and not related to any
developments at RIM.
------- Direct Link:
canoe.ca |
