Whenever there’s heavy competition around, there’s always a sense of uneasiness. You felt it in grade school with the smart girl that sat beside you, you feel it at the bars as gelled-up frat boys douse themselves with Jagermeister, and you might even feel it at your local cell phone retailer, comparing mobile operating systems (ok, maybe not).
But ZDNet (via SeekingAlpha) is asking about RIM and Windows Mobile, pondering whether or not Windows Mobile is a threat to the maker of the BlackBerry. Actually, the author says that that’s the exact reason RIM just opened up a whole slew of API’s for their devices – because they’re scared of WinMo.
Admittedly, my hunch may be reading too much into a few new APIs from RIM, but it does make you wonder. Meanwhile, the API announcement comes on the same day as a research note from a firm called ICAP.
In the note, analyst Richard Williams reiterated a sell rating on RIM shares and said “channel checks suggested a shortfall in BlackBerry sales in the quarter. The impact of Microsoft (MSFT) competition could be significantly more serious than expected.”
Williams noted:
“With the recent upgrades to the Windows Mobile platform, Microsoft can now offer virtually free push email capabilities, a key competitive advantage of RIMM’s and subject of at least part of the NTP patent infringement suit last year. The ability to send Outlook messages to any compatible device could erode RIMM’s ability to charge for software at the server level that provide push email to BlackBerry devices, hurting margins and earnings.”
So what do you think, readers? I’m not worried, I don’t think you should be, and as long as RIM keeps doing what they do best, providing us with secure and solid solutions for our every day, I’ll feel safe with where I’m at. Who’s scared of the big, bad, Microsoft?
