RIM investor says the company “should sell its handset business”, and once again calls for a change in leadership

Research In Motion will be announcing their Q3 results later today, something most investors are fearing as the company continues its downward spiral. The anticipation for their next generation BlackBerry 10 (BBX) smartphones is relatively high, but always out numbered by some sort of unfortunate luck – poor PlayBook sales, trademark infringement, service outage, rabid employees who cause mayhem on an Air Canada flight.

While we wait for the official numbers to roll in, one of their most outspoken investors, Jaguar Financial Corporation, has again sent out a press release that says the company should be split into several parts, plus declares that co-CEO’s Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis should resign because “investors have lost faith in the ability of the RIM management team to carry out a proper game plan to restore value” – the stock price dropped again yesterday by $0.40 to $15.08.

Vic Alboini, Chairman and CEO of Jaguar, said that RIM Board Members Barbara Stymiest and Dean Roger Martin “should step up and take the lead in making dramatic governance change”. However, it seems like this Alboini fella is a take-it-or-leave-it kinda guy, noting that if Stymiest and Martin fail to “step up”, they should then “resign from the Board if they are unable or unwilling to initiate appropriate governance changes.”

In October Jaguar noted the best route for RIM is to split into 3 divisions: network, device and patent. Now, a couple months later, the tone has completely shifted as “Jaguar believes that RIM should sell its handset business and monetize its patent portfolio, while retaining its service business under new leadership.”

Alboini says that RIM has “lost its ability to compete in the consumer hardware business” and a sale of the “handset business is recommended as an approach to restoring value”. RIM reported a couple weeks ago that Q3 estimation had approximately 14.1 million BlackBerry smartphones shipped, but they also expect “the fourth quarter to be below third quarter levels.” In 2012 RIM is rumoured to launch five BlackBerry 10 devices: London, Lisbon, Milan, Nevada, Black Forest.

“Jaguar believes the service business is RIM’s most valuable business… If the hardware business were sold, RIM can focus on managing and delivering mobility solutions in the enterprise sector for all smartphones and tablets. With its secure messaging platform, Jaguar believes RIM could create considerable value as a software and service provider.”

We’re crossing our fingers for that some sort of good news will come out of the Q3 results later today. Something, eventually, has to give and we hope things turn around for the famed Canadian company.

Source: CNW