After Research in Motion's CEO told a German newspaper the
company may be considering big changes, the company's stock shot up on
the Toronto Stock Exchange, ending Monday more than 10 percent up, at CAN$17.41 ($17.41).
In an interview with Die Welt (The World), Thorsten Heins, the German-born executive, suggested that the company could sell the company’s hardware division, or license its upcoming operating system, known as BlackBerry 10—as part of the company’s “comprehensive review.”
"The main thing for now is to successfully introduce Blackberry 10. Then we'll see," he told the German paper (Google Translate).
Given the company's struggles in recent years—against the iPhone and Android—it seems likely that licensing the OS would be one way of shoring up the company's finances.
In a hands-on with the new OS at CES earlier this month, Ars editor Florence Ion found it to be very gestures-heavy, noting that “upon first use, we had a difficult time understanding which gestures to use and how to swipe between screens without bringing up something we weren't trying to.”
That said, Canadian financial analysts seemed to be relatively bullish on the company and its pending launch of BlackBerry 10 on January 30.
"There are several emerging datapoints that suggest this may be a more successful product cycle than many expected," Tom Astle of Byron Capital, wrote in an investor’s note, raising his price target from CAN$14 to CAN$18.
In an interview with Die Welt (The World), Thorsten Heins, the German-born executive, suggested that the company could sell the company’s hardware division, or license its upcoming operating system, known as BlackBerry 10—as part of the company’s “comprehensive review.”
"The main thing for now is to successfully introduce Blackberry 10. Then we'll see," he told the German paper (Google Translate).
Given the company's struggles in recent years—against the iPhone and Android—it seems likely that licensing the OS would be one way of shoring up the company's finances.
In a hands-on with the new OS at CES earlier this month, Ars editor Florence Ion found it to be very gestures-heavy, noting that “upon first use, we had a difficult time understanding which gestures to use and how to swipe between screens without bringing up something we weren't trying to.”
That said, Canadian financial analysts seemed to be relatively bullish on the company and its pending launch of BlackBerry 10 on January 30.
"There are several emerging datapoints that suggest this may be a more successful product cycle than many expected," Tom Astle of Byron Capital, wrote in an investor’s note, raising his price target from CAN$14 to CAN$18.
Editor's Pick: Promoted Reader Comment
The stock bump is more likely caused by the realization that carriers are pushing it, developers are developing for it, and reviews are excellent. And maybe a bit because Samsung is now targeting them as they did Apple in their new ad, perhaps they sense a threat?
January 30th should be interesting.
Edit: And your subheading is ridiculous, Fox news would be proud:
"A week before BlackBerry 10's launch, exec says firm undergoing major "review."
The review was launched months ago, and in many interviews the licensing option and outsourcing hardware was mentioned, but that it would not be of value to pursue that until the BB10 OS had shipped and gained customers. Please at least try to get it right when doing "journalism".