New Year Won't Stop Research In Motion

[BESadmin]

New Year Won't Stop Research In Motion
1st January 2007

Research in Motion shares have nearly doubled in 2006, and next year could also be strong for the maker of the addictive BlackBerry messaging device.

“RIM (nasdaq: RIMM) stands at the convergence point of the world’s two largest markets: wireless and Internet,” Rob Sanderson, an analyst at American Technology Research, said in a note Thursday. “RIM is addressing the opportunity unlike any competitor and is seeing accelerating adoption while competing products have been underwhelming.”

For its third quarter, which ended in November, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company reported a 36% spike in new subscribers, following a 14% jump in the second quarter. Management expects a rise of 52% to 56%, or about 1 million users, in the fourth quarter, due largely to the wide adoption of RIM's latest model, the Pearl, and the soon-to-be released Indigo.

Research in Motion said 875,000 BlackBerry subscriber accounts were added during the third quarter, making the total 7 million worldwide. The North American subscriber base grew 13% over last quarter, while offshore the subscriber base grew 18%.

In addition to the existing multimedia and Internet applications offered on the BlackBerry devices, Sanderson expects the integration of the global positioning system, on the Indigo, slated to launch in February, will take the product to new heights.

RIM shares rose 0.2%, or 19 cents, to $129.60, on Thursday. The stock began the year at $66.01.

Sanderson believes the shares will achieve his 12-month price target of $175 by the mid-2007.