Research in Motion Ltd (BBRY): BlackBerry Secures Key Approval

Research in Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) has been playing a waiting game since it released its new BlackBerry 10 operating system. The company, which has been known for its state-of-the-art security and privacy measures with its various devices, did secure a couple of major government and enterprise contracts in the few short weeks after the BB10 launch. While Waterloo celebrated those victories, it had to sweat because  its virtually automatic pass into the U.S. government  was not guaranteed because of the major changes to BlackBerry’s OS. The company had to go through a new approval process that it hadn’t had to do in several years.

Then the sequester happened, and the Pentagon admitted that it would go through with purchases of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) devices like iPhones and iPads, but that Research in Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) BlackBerry devices might be left out of the process. Then, there were reports out recently that said the Department of Defense would indeed go through with approving Samsung Galaxy and Apple iPhone and iPad devices for use but there was little if any mention about BlackBerry.

It turns out, there was nothing about which to worry. Be concerned, maybe, but certainly not worried.

It was reported late Thursday that the Department of Defense had indded approved Research in Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) BlackBerry devices, including the Z10 and PlayBook, for use in official government business – including those with security clearances , which are common in the pentagon. The Q10, with the physical keyboard, was also signed off for approval, though the device itself has not yet reached U.S. store shelves. Also in the report, by the way, was news that Samsung and Apple have not yet been approved by the Pentagon, but those approvals were expected in the near-term.

What do you think about this news? Do you have a guesstimate of how many BlackBerry devices the Pentagon might decide to buy, and how might this afect Research in Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) sales numbers in this and future quarters? Have you tried the BlackBerry 10 OS? What are your thoughts? Give us your feedback in the comments section below.

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