Opinions on RIM's future polarized

The Globe and Mail writes about the "extreme range of investor sentiment, from lovers to disbelievers" that seems to folloe Research in Motion around. While "sales are up 53 per cent in fiscal 2006," RIM faces new competition and more lawsuits.

Mike Abramsky at RBC Dominion Securities recently wrote, "There is strong debate regarding RIM's future. Will RIM remain dominant? Or will earnings and growth erode as competition — notably from Microsoft — ramps up?” Abramsky outlined four scenarios for his clients: "RIM maintains its existing strategy, increases its software licensing, lowers prices to compete, or is overwhelmed by competition."

Abramsky thought that the "most likely situation will see the company continue on its present course, rolling out more products, expanding well in Europe and seeing moderate growth in Asia," he forecasted "RIM posting compound annual growth of between 25 per cent and 30 per cent."

Abramsky thought an "acquisition, however, could prove attractive because of RIM's high margins, strong brand, global reach and technical expertise." He said, “We expect that RIM would be acquired at a premium, given its market-leading position." He pointed out that "a 25-per-cent “takeout premium” would translate into a price of between $95 and $105 (U.S.) a share."

Abramsky listed potential acquirers such as "Nokia Corp., Motorola Inc., Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., Microsoft Corp. and International Business Machines Corp."

Regarding Motorola and its delayed Q handset, Albert Lin at American Technology Research noted "the Q will launch only on New York-based Verizon Communications Inc.'s network in the United States." He wrote, "After many bug fixes, we believe the product will ship within the next four weeks."

Regarding competitive devices from other manufacturersm Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Vivek Arya wrote in a note, “We are unconvinced Nokia can cause any meaningful defections from BlackBerry by just introducing another device featuring a keyboard. Nokia and Motorola phones will target the high-end consumer segment, and pose greater threat to Palm's Treo than to RIM's BlackBerry handsets.”