As you may know by now, I am a cheap investor. This means that I usually only buy bottom feeding opportunities. Research In Motion (RIM:TSX)(RIMM:NASDAQ) has been on my watchlist for quite some time and to many investors, it is a great bottom feeding opportunity.

*Helpful Hint: Being cheap when it comes to investing is good, but not so good when you’re taking your lady out on a date. McDonalds is not an acceptable restaurant for an anniversay dinner.*

Despite RIM’s collapse in share price during the last six months, I still haven’t pulled myself together to purchase a few shares. The reason for my cold feet is that I was waiting to see how the Blackberry Storm fared when it hit the market. I had my reservations before the product was released. Copying an idea isn’t what made RIM a powerhouse in the smart phone market. They did make slight alterations, differentiating the Storm from the iPhone, but after owning the product for a month now, I think they made a mistake.

 

I’ve been a Blackberry owner for 4 years and in that time have probably owned just about every new model RIM has come out with. I love my gadgets and up until now I have loved RIM’s product. It’s easy to use, very practical, increases my efficiency and I think that is why people first started buying them. Unfortunately the Storm doesn’t work with the same efficiency as RIM’s older models. It’s tough to type with so I don’t like responding to emails on it because I don’t want my clients thinking I’m illiterate. It is also very slow at times and comes with one too may bugs. This has defeated the purpose of owning a Blackberry, at least for me.

Why has RIM spent so much money targeting the iPhone audience?

Clearly RIM felt threatened by the overnight success of Steve Job’s masterful creation, which instantly scooped up 25% of the smart phone market share. But the market they took over was never one RIM targeted in the first place. I think RIM has been such a huge success because of their innovation, not their ability to copy an existing product, make a few alterations and then try and pick up a new chunk of the mobile market. I get the sense that this product was rushed to the market and doesn’t fit the image which has made Blackberry such a huge success. So, until they can come out with a product I believe is unique and cutting edge once again, or unless I learn the Storm is making them money hand over fist, (from the reviews I’ve read across the US it hasn’t) RIM will remain on my watchlist and not in my portfolio.

Aaron

PinnacleDigest.com

PS – To this day I haven’t seen a business colleague carrying around an iPhone.

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