Late last year tech giants, Research In Motion RIM-T, Microsoft MSFT-Q and Comcast CMCSA-Q looked like they'd be putting all the slipups behind them. It looked like 2010 would be a time of action.
The predictions panned out as follows: Wrong, wrong and right.
RIM shares hit a one-year low Friday after the BlackBerry maker added more confirmation to the thesis that Apple and Google Android phones are crushing the smartphone business.
Microsoft is headed in that same direction for many of the same reasons.
But Comcast hasn't been nearly as disappointing; its stock is sitting 5 per cent higher for the year thus far.
Here's an update on where these top tech picks of 2010 might be headed.
Research in Motion
Our bet on RIM was based on the idea that it was far too nimble to fall far behind in its own game. But six months into the year, amid the rush of new phone arrivals from Motorola, HTC and Apple, RIM has done just that. The curtain is falling on RIM's email phone act. And the long wait for the BlackBerry 6 operating system and a touchscreen, Web- and app-friendly system has turned painful. The new Talladega phone that should have arrived by now may not materialize until fall, according to analysts.
One additional factor that wasn't obvious when we picked RIM for 2010 was the easy sync new Android phones have with Microsoft Exchange, the dominant office email and calendar systems. Phones like the Verizon Incredible and Sprint's EVO effortlessly link up to the office network and as yet, are not subject to an service extra charge. It could very well pry BlackBerry servers out of the IT closet.
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Thinking of investing in RIM?
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If there was a darkest moment before the dawn for RIM, this is it. The new BlackBerry could put RIM right back in the game, but it will test investors' pain tolerance waiting for that payoff.
