John Paczkowski

Recent Posts by John Paczkowski

Two RIMs Better Than One?

As a preface to Research In Motion’s shareholder meeting today, RBC’s* call for the company to split itself in two is a particularly apt one. Penned by longtime RIM bull Mike Abramsky, it summarizes the market’s profound loss of faith in the company with a frustrated throwing up of the hands. “RIM’s organization, like its handsets, needs modernization,” says Abramsky.

So how best to achieve that? By splitting RIM the company into two distinct businesses — Network and Smart Devices.

“We believe the split may accelerate organizational change and help reinvigorate RIM’s culture and promote new blood, given that the current organization has missed (and dismissed) key disruptive changes in the market,” Abramsky explains. “… The existing handset and technology organizations may be too tied to legacy customers to make the bold moves necessary to accomplish its turnaround, too tied to older paradigms vs. prioritizing and innovating around new consumer experiences.”

Splitting off the handset business might free it to become more consumer technology focused, more innovative and better able to address competitive gaps. Meanwhile, the network business would thrive by selling its services to the broader smartphone market — Android, Symbian, Windows Phone and the like.

An interesting idea — a disruptive one, too. But Abramsky theorizes that it could double the value of each stand-alone business and make both more attractive to potential buyers.

*Barbara Stymiest, Chief Operating Officer at RBC Financial Group, sits on RIM’s board of directors. RBC also makes a market in RIMM securities.

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There’s a lot of attention and PR around Marissa, but their product lineup just kind of blows.

— Om Malik on Bloomberg TV, talking about Yahoo, the September issue of Vogue Magazine, and our overdependence on Google