Does RIM's "Huge Loss" Signal Wider Handset Market Deterioration? 278
zacharye writes "RIM was expected to deliver a nightmarish, -30% year-on-year revenue decline into the May quarter — the company issued its latest profit warning just four weeks ago. Yet it ended up missing the lowered consensus estimate by 10%, generating just $2.8 billion in sales. The reasons for RIM's decline are well-known and will be rehashed again over the next 24 hours. But the size of the F1Q13 sales miss raises another question: apart from Apple and Samsung, is the handset industry drifting into serious trouble?"
So... (Score:5, Informative)
HP/Compaq, Lenovo, Acer, Asus, Dell, Samsung, Sony, Fujitsu... who among these would you call small players? A small player in my mind is a store chain that sells rebranded or white label computers, not an asian mega giant.
Just because YOU don't shop around, doesn't mean nobody else does.
Re:Eheh (Score:5, Informative)
This is a weird argument. I had a N900, with all the advantages you describe here: Linux, real software, free. However, since I have a Galaxy Nexus with Android, I have the feeling the overall quality of apps is *way* better. And guess what, many of the good ones are free (as in beer) too. When choosing between paying some money for an app that does do what I want, compared to a app 'from a developer with a heart of his app' that looks ugly and stays in beta forever, I'd pay.
Besides, developing for Android is a lot nicer than for the N900. I don't know how far MeeGo/Moblin/Maemo has become in the last year, but I really like Android from both a user's and developer's perspective.
Re:So... (Score:5, Informative)
HP/Compaq - their PC division makes so little money they thought about getting rid of it.
Lenovo - usually loses money every now and thn thy make a slight profit.
Acer - hasn't done well since the netbook craze.
Dell - Is seeing revenue and profit decline and trying to move away from PCs to services.
Sony - reported billion dollar losses.
Does that seem like a healthy industry?
Re:So... (Score:4, Informative)
How is this any different from the phone industry?
Samsung - makes 26% of the industry profit because they can manufacturer their own components.
Motorola Mobility - hasn't made a profit ad a standalone entity in two years.
HTC - very slim profit. 1% of the industry profit.
Sony/Ericson - losing money.
RIM - losing money.
Nokia- losing money.
LG - losing money.
Only three mobile companies are making money - Apple 66% + of the industry profits, Samsung most of the rest with HTC making 1%.