Research in Motion vs. Apple: Game On

Written by StockJockey

Friday, May 09, 2008 12:45 pm

It is game on in the battle for handset supremacy. Is there room for two top dogs? Research in Motion (RIMM-NASDAQ) has been taking dead aim at Apple, Inc. (AAPL-NASDAQ) and their legions of fanboys.

RIM set the stage for this epic battle over a year ago:

Jim Basillie
“Apple has done us an enormous favour by saying you should expect music on your cellphone,” he said. “[But] I think it’s 10 if not 100 times harder to do the communications aspect onto an MP3 player than to do the mass media player onto a communications framework. I think we’ll absolutely nail it before some new entrant comes even close. You know, everyone’s brave in the locker room. Let’s get it done.”

Although RIM is unlikely to update its financial guidance heading into its big shindig Monday in Orlando, FL, the stock has run up igoing into the Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES), which will be webcast from RIM's website.

Avian Securities has done their homework, and are weighing in on the chances the Blackberry 9000 makes its debut, along with international distribution efforts:

We believe management will also focus attention on key initiatives in the areas of distribution, software, and applications. RIMM continues to drive direct carrier distribution in overseas markets. The company also bolstered its indirect distribution with the recently announced agreement with Brightpoint (CELL). Avian Securities

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In the News

May 9, 2008 1:15 PM
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Vikram Pandit has barely had time to settle into his new job and roll up his sleeves, yet his detractors are legion. The initial reaction to his strategic plans laid our earlier today is not great, at least if you look at how the stock is trading.

Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit plans to get rid of about $400 billion of assets over the next three years as he starts to whittle away at the company built by Sanford ``Sandy'' Weill.

When he's done, Citigroup may cease to be the biggest U.S. bank, a title the firm has held for a decade.

``There will be more'' divestitures, Pandit, 51, told shareholders at a meeting today at the bank's New York headquarters. The company, which lost $5.1 billion in the first quarter, has recorded more than $40 billion of credit losses and writedowns since the subprime mortgage market collapsed last year. Bloomberg

The recent respite for financial stocks ended rudely this week, although the selloff in individual names seems worse than in the XLF ETF

Pandit did not knock the lights out and his Old Lane hedge fund, but his current task, and challenges, are far different. I will be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but taking a stand on the stock here is another matter. The bounce appears over, and Citi's stock is more volatile than Meredith Whitney's mood swings.

Citigroup Plans to Shed About $400 Billion of Assets
Bloomberg

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