RIM: "We don?t have the economy of scale to compete..."

[HeyCori]

A bit of a misleading headline IMO, however, that doesn't change the fact that things are looking bad for RIM (Nokia and HTC too)

RIM CEO admits company can’t keep up with Apple, Samsung without outside help

RIM (RIMM) has long resisted allowing others to build devices based on its BlackBerry operating system, but RIM CEO Thorsten Heins on Thursday reiterated comments made during the company’s first-quarter earnings call, telling the Telegraph that giving other original equipment manufacturers a crack at making BlackBerry 10 devices may be the only way for the company to survive.

“We don’t have the economy of scale to compete against the guys who crank out 60 handsets a year,” Heins said. “We have to differentiate and have a focused platform. To deliver BB10 we may need to look at licensing it to someone who can do this at a way better cost proposition than I can do it. There’s different options we could do that we’re currently investigating.”

The trouble for RIM, of course, is that Heins says that the company would be licensing BlackBerry 10 out, meaning any interested OEMs would have to pay for it. In a market where many device manufacturers are already paying Microsoft (MSFT) licensing fees to make Windows Phone devices, and using Google’s (GOOG) Android operating system for free, getting OEMs to pay for BlackBerry 10 seems easier said than done.

 

[eastbayrae]

Android being free is a joke unto itself. These handsets are no cheaper, and in fact more in most cases, then devices based on WP, BB, or iOS. RIM wouldn't have had this issue if they had innovated when they should have, years ago. His 'economy of scale' comment is way off. How were they able to have so much market share just a few years ago? You can't blame Android OEM's for RIM's demise. They haven't had anything worth a **** in many years. They did touch screen devices that were absolute trash and they haven't done anything good since then.