Despite the lacklustre economy and a sharp drop in its stock price, Research In Motion Ltd. pushed for a greater hold on the global smart phone market Wednesday when the Waterloo, Ont., company quietly launched another new BlackBerry for shoppers to covet in the run-up to Christmas.
Although the new BlackBerry is dubbed the Curve 8900, it has been known internally at RIM and in the blogosphere for months as the "Javelin." RIM said the new device will launch first with T-Mobile in Germany later this month and would be made available in the United States and Canada in early 2009.
The Curve 8900 is the fourth new BlackBerry device RIM has unveiled since May, following the launches of the company's first next generation (3G) device the Bold in May, the clamshell design Pearl Flip in September and the touch-screen Storm in October.
Although RIM remains the leader in smart phone market share in North America, the BlackBerry is facing increased competition from Apple Inc.'s iPhone.
That rivalry has heated up in recent weeks following the Apple's announcement on Oct. 21 that the iPhone outsold the BlackBerry in the most recent quarter. Apple said it sold 6.9 million iPhones, whereas RIM said it shipped 6.1 million BlackBerrys in its most recent earnings announcement.
Still, RIM has outsold the iPhone overall since Apple's touch-screen device was first made available. Since the iPhone first went on sale in June, 2007, 13 million have been sold compared to about 23 million BlackBerry devices.
Shares of the Waterloo company dipped slightly in early trading on both the TSX and the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Some analysts were surprised that T-Mobile has opted to offer the new Curve for as low as 4.95 (EUR) on the company's Relax 200 Plus plan with a 24-month contract.
T-Mobile will also offer discounted service rates for anyone who purchases the new Curve and signs up for a BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) plan, which provides push e-mail for non-corporate users.
UBS analyst Jeffrey Fan estimates that the new rate plans could lower the cost of owning a Curve to 89 (EUR) over the two year period.
"The trial essentially lowers the total cost of ownership ... and could help stimulate interest as the BIS monthly add-on may be difficult for consumers in tougher economic times," Mr. Fan wrote in a research note to clients.
"However, it's unclear whether RIM is providing any promotional funds or if their monthly service fees will be impacted, though may already be reflected in guidance."
Users can also opt to purchase the new Curve without a contract for 359.90 (EUR), the company said in a statement.
RIM's stock has been locked in a downward spiral and has hovered near 52-week-lows since late September as analysts have slashed their ratings on the BlackBerry maker in response to the company's new emphasis on capturing a greater share of the consumer market.
Although RIM maintains a stranglehold on the market for business smart phone devices, the company's top executives are placing an increasing emphasis on capturing a greater share of the consumer market with devices aimed at women, students and other non-corporate users.
In addition to the Pearl Flip and Storm devices, both of which are expected to be popular among consumers, the company is also prepping an online application marketplace where BlackBerry users can purchase games and other software for their smart phones.
RIM's BlackBerry Application Storefront, which is expected to launch in March, will be similar to Apple's App Store and Google Inc.'s Android Marketplace, which provides similar software for the company's new G1 smart phone.
RBC Dominion Securities analyst Mike Abramsky said that although RIM is facing elevated interim risks, the company is still poised for strong long term growth, in a note delivered to clients on Wednesday. However, he cut his price target on the company from $90 to $65.
"RIM's positive long-term fundamentals (innovation, competitive advantages, speed-to-market) are expected to expand its market share versus incumbent vendors Motorola Inc., Nokia Corp, LG Electronics Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.," he said.
"While our smart-phone outlook offers positive long-term implications for RIM, and we expect strong initial demand from Bold and Storm launches, we see near term risks to growth and margins, amidst intensifying competition and a deteriorating macro demand environment."
RIM says the new Curve is the slimmest BlackBerry to feature a full QWERTY keyboard and that it also includes WiFi capabilities, a 3.2-megapixel camera and enhanced multimedia features.