Research in Motion Blackberry is being Eaten Alive by Apple

Research in Motion saw revenues fall yesterday despite a three month rally as it announced subscriber rates fell by 1 million during the third quarter, just one month before the release of its long-awaited Blackberry 10 OS. This is bad news to bear as RIM is gearing to launch the much hyped Blackberry 10 next year—but there are far more factors that come into play in the release and development of smart phone technologies than handset models themselves—even though the new devices are critical to the company’s survival.

One very serious problem RIM faces as it changes structure to be competitive with other companies that don’t own messenger service technologies that made sense in a world before 3G networks—and still makes sense in underdeveloped countries like Indonesia—is clear. RIM simply will not generate as much revenue from telcom carriers once it releases the Blackberry 10 platform since only subscribers who want enhanced security will pay fees.

Another issue on RIM’s radar comes down to the outbreak of patent lawsuits abounding between phone developers and carriers—as the Canadian firm just paid Nokia to re-license patents in order to avoid several more expensive suits on its home turf and in Germany. With the announcement hitting Nokia’s blog yesterday, it’s estimated that RIM will be paying out somewhere between $2 and $5 a phone going forward, and that’s a lot of money per unit for a company who expecting the release of an upcoming model to turn revenues around for the better.

But cell phones and their related technologies seem to have played a large part in market news this week (perhaps the largest outside the impending fiscal cliff) as Google sold off Motorola Home and saw a slight rise and Apple shares plummeted due to concerns pertaining to the iPhone 5.

The question still remains as to whether Google will be able to grab a sizable market share of Apple’s current mobile phone user base as 2013 unfolds. How Apple’s recent posturing to redefine television markets with iTV and Google’s latest move to get out of it by selling their set-top box division earlier this week, remains to be seen, but it seems like the tech giants have chosen deliberately different strategies. Google’s X phone plan involves an overcrowded market with a lot of contenders, and Apple has chosen to enter a market that is so fraught with difficulty most players are bowing out of it.

My prediction is that Google, with its recent posturing, will remain a solid investment immediately—and for the long term only if it is able to snap up a large enough market share of disenchanted iPhone devotees who want better photographic technologies in a phone and Google can overcome its current issues with supply-chain logistics and manufacturing.

However, if Apple can truly revolutionize television as some analysts predict it may, even without Steve Jobs at the helm–perhaps convincing providers of content to work with some sort of iTunes-based a-la-carte delivery system–then they stand a good chance of creating a new market altogether, which is the kind of move many long-term investors most hope to see.