RIM TO CUT 2000 JOBS WORLDWIDE

Research In Motion will slash about 2,000 jobs from its operations worldwide in an effort to cut costs, but the impact on employees at its Bedford office will be "relatively small," the company said Monday.

The BlackBerry maker announced the "cost optimization program" in a news release Monday, calling the layoffs a "prudent and necessary step for the long-term success of the company."

A spokesman said Monday in an email to The Chronicle Herald that "although RIM is looking to achieve efficiencies across its global operations, the impact of the workforce reduction announced today is relatively small in Halifax."

If employees at RIM’s customer support centre in Bedford had any inkling of impending job losses at their office, they were keeping mum Monday.

"Actually, I don’t know anything about it," one man said outside the Innovation Drive office.

A woman declined comment, saying, "It’s not worth the risk."

RIM said it would notify affected employees at its North American operations this week. The company, based in Waterloo, Ont., has about 19,000 employees worldwide.

Bedford councillor Tim Outhit said he isn’t privy to any of the company’s plans for layoffs in his community, but he expressed concern for the workers.

"Obviously, I’m hoping for the best for them. I like to see good-paying, knowledge economy jobs in Nova Scotia, and I was very pleased when RIM came here. They’re good-paying jobs, and we’d like to see them be here."

RIM’s arrival in Nova Scotia was announced with fanfare in November 2005. With the expected gain of hundreds of jobs in the area, the province pulled out all the stops to woo the company.

The former Office of Economic Development gave $5 million to RIM in 2005 to cover training and recruitment, and the provincial business development agency, Nova Scotia Business Inc., contributed an additional $5.3 million in payroll rebates. Under the rebate program, companies receive money each year after they meet predetermined hiring targets.

Neither RIM nor the business development agency would specify how many people the company now employs in Bedford, but Percy Paris, the minister of economic and rural development and tourism, said the number is about 540.

That is far below the estimated job growth touted in Nova Scotia Business Inc.’s 2005-06 annual report.

"The company already has more than 100 employees in place in Halifax and will continue to create one job every business day for the next five years," the report said.

Despite falling short of job estimates, the company has been a boon to the province, said Stephen Lund, the agency’s president and chief executive officer.

Name recognition alone has allowed Nova Scotia’s business jet-setters to market the province to potential clients overseas.

"This is a critical part of the IT sector," Lund said. "Having RIM has allowed us to leverage that name around the world. When we’re talking to companies in London, New York, China, it’s a great selling tool for us."

The province’s financial investment of $10.3 million has paid off, he said.

"This is a strong positive return on investment for us. If you take just the tax revenue alone that those employees would generate, it far exceeds what we paid out."

The dip in the company’s workforce comes as RIM squares off against fierce competition in the smartphone market, including Apple’s iPhone and phones with Google’s Android operating system. RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet has also received lukewarm reviews compared with Apple’s popular iPad.

Lund said RIM’s challenges are no reason to lose faith in the company.

"They’re still showing strong numbers; they’re just not meeting the numbers analysts have expected. Halifax has been a great operation. We have great confidence in the company."

RIM's PlayBook....2 little 2 late???

TORONTO (Reuters) - Research In Motion 's PlayBook, the long-awaited response to Apple's iPad, goes on sale in the United States and Canada on Tuesday in a launch RIM desperately hopes will win the hearts and minds of consumers.
The stakes could not be higher for the Canadian company, whose BlackBerry smartphone once reigned supreme but has struggled to compete since Apple's iPhone and a slew of devices running Google's Android entered the fray.
The launch has not been helped by reviews, which have panned the WiFi-only tablet computer for lacking RIM's trademark email and organizer applications. However, retailers including Staples and Best Buy say solid pre-orders for this week's launch suggest pent-up demand for a capable alternative to the iPad.
Some 20,000 stores across the United States and Canada will stock the PlayBook at launch, and it will also be sold directly to enterprises.
Some say it is unfair to even stack the contenders up against the iPad, which single-handedly made the tablet market a reality last April. Apple sold almost 15 million iPads in 2010; RIM is expected to move 3 million PlayBooks in a similar window in 2011, according to 18 analysts polled by Reuters.
"It's not going to be in the same league as the iPad," said Al Hilwa, a Seattle-based analyst at IDC. "The question is will it sell more than the Xoom but less than the Galaxy," for example, he said, referring to Android-based tablets from Motorola Mobility and Samsung.
Underscoring the challenges in whipping up the type of buzz typical of an Apple launch, Staples Canada ditched plans to open its doors at midnight for a more sensible 7 a.m. opening.
"We just think it'll make more sense for business customers to come in on their way to work," head of merchandising Pete Gibel said. "Midnight is more of a consumer play."
But analysts say RIM's Playbook should stay in the hunt, even if it gets off to a slow start as it overhauls its creaky platform with the QNX operating system it acquired last year.
Gartner, a research outfit focused on technology, estimates one in 10 touchscreen devices sold in 2015, or some 30 million, will be powered by QNX, which will likely also find its way onto its smartphones in the next 12 months.
That would place it third behind Apple at almost half the market and Android at just under 40 percent, leaving little room for Hewlett-Packard's soon-to-launch WebOS tablet and completely ignoring a possible Windows tablet platform.
CARRIER EXCITEMENT LIMITED
RIM made its name among a white-collar crowd when mobile email was a novelty and has been slow to broaden its appeal.
And in its current setup, the PlayBook's prime audiences are the 60 million-odd active BlackBerry users worldwide and corporate IT managers who appreciate the reliance on a BlackBerry for access to corporate data. RIM expects large businesses to buy shipments in "the tens of thousands."
Without a cellular connection, carriers such as Verizon are unlikely to get too excited as they stand to gain little from selling a tablet without a data plan, although the cost savings may attract consumers.
In Canada, carrier Telus aims to set itself apart by offering PlayBook buyers 45-minute sessions with specially-trained staff to explain the device. But Telus' attention is also split; Motorola's Xoom launches there the same day.
Cellular-connected PlayBooks are due out mid-year.
For the boy in every businessman, RIM has stolen a sheet out of the iPad's playbook, teaming up with Electronic Arts to ship its tablet with the car-racing game 'Need For Speed: Undercover

Search for share prices Search for share prices Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:54AM EDT - Canadian Markets closed RIM says any new smartphone curbs in UAE would apply to others too

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The maker of BlackBerry devices says it has been told that any new restrictions imposed by authorities in the United Arab Emirates would apply to other smartphones too.
The UAE telecom regulator has said it may limit access to the highly secure Blackberry Enterprise Server, a system used by many international companies.
Individual customers and organizations with fewer than 20 users wouldn't have access.
Device maker Research in Motion Ltd. (TSX:RIM) said in an emailed statement today that it has been in direct contact with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.
It says it's been told any policy change would apply to the whole industry and affect "all enterprise solution providers" — a reference to phones tied to corporate email accounts.
The TRA said Saturday that "all BlackBerry services" would continue for companies and individual subscribers.