The FINANCIAL — Research In Motion Ltd, struggling to stem sales declines amid competition from Apple Inc, gained the support of hedge-fund manager Leon Cooperman, who said the BlackBerry maker's new operating system will help it rebound.
RIM has lost 68 per cent this year, slumping below the net value of its assets because of market-share losses to Apple's iPhone and devices that run Google Inc's Android software. The decline has put pressure on RIM to shake up management, and investors such as Jaguar Financial Corp have called for the company to split up, seek a merger or sell itself.The company, which helped create the smartphone market a decade ago with its first e-mail device, would be worth more than its current market capitalisation if it combines with another company, Cooperman said.Omega, based in New York, bought 1.43 million RIM shares last quarter, as it increased the proportion of its equity investments in technology stocks by 6.3 per cent, data compiled by Bloomberg show.RIM rose 5.2 per cent to $18.49 in New York on Friday.
Cooperman said that James Balsillie and Michael Lazaridis, who together serve as co-chairmen and co-chief executive officers, together hold about $1 billion of RIM stock, providing them with incentive to make it succeed. Another point in RIM's favour is the company's installed base of more than 70 million subscribers, he said.
The company, based in Waterloo, Ontario, posted its first quarterly revenue decline in nine years in September and is struggling to move its BlackBerry line-up onto the new operating system. The software is part of a bid to win users from the iPhone and devices from Samsung and HTC that run Android.
RIM's US market share sank to 9.2 per cent in the third quarter from 24 per cent a year earlier as consumers opted for the iPhone and Android devices, according to researcher Canalys.
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