More Competition in the Smartphone Space
RIMM wants to truly market to the prosumer niche, and here is there device… the Pearl. (scroll down once in the link)
I’m not to impressed w/the phone, but that is for the consumer to decide. The mini Keyboard w/SureType is not as good as RIMM proclaims it to be. (I know my gf was very annoyed at it, and returned her older BB for that very reason.) IMO, RIMM will need to do more to attract the prosumer, especially since they are about to allow their software to be on the Treo. If RIMM wants to truly compete in the prosumer space they should buy the dominate leader… PALM.
(But I do not think PALM will sell itself yet, especially at these prices. The stock is worth at least 21 on a DCF basis, and 28-30 on a ‘break-up’ value. And a consolidation of the space should merit even more of a premium potentially pushing the stock price to the low/mid 30s.)
This quarter will be an interesting one. It will answer the questions to competition, and whether or not a high end market for smartphones still exists. (I’m betting that competition is not getting the best of PALM right now. Also the the quality of smartphone is what people pay for… and people like quality.
