RIM, now known as BlackBerry, unveiled its latest set of handsets today that run its latest BlackBerry 10 operating system. The crowd present at the launch event were excited about the product, but investors were less than impressed.
RIM’s share price was at a little over $16 this morning before the BlackBerry 10 handsets were unveiled. After the unveiling, there was a substantial drop to $14.44. Shortly after, the share price climbed a little to only drop again to $14.25. Since then, it’s been steadily decreasing with its share price now at a little under $14, or a drop of 11 percent.
So, what happened? A new product launch is usually something to celebrate, but the response from investors has obviously been less than positive. Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Dave Garrity of GVA Research says that RIM’s renewed focus as a smaller company may not help in the end as “the list of businesses which ‘successfully shrunk themselves to prosperity’ is short.”
It also seems that many investors were not thrilled with CEO Thorsten Heins performance on stage this morning. The scripted event did little to sell any of them on the future of BlackBerry 10 as Heins’ excitement for the product rang hollow.
RIM needs to boost investor confidence with its latest product, and it hasn’t exactly done that during this first impression. It’s important to remember, however, that today is just that – a first impression. Investors might change their tune once the phone gets in the hands of consumers around the world. It might even end up being more of a success than anybody could have hoped. We’ll all just have to wait and see.
If you need to catch up on all the BlackBerry 10 news of today, check out our extensive coverage here.
