Return of the Berry? – Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY)

The funny

I’m not sure whether you liked the BlackBerry Super Bowl ad, but for me it was very confusing and downright weird. True, Super Bowl ads tend to be more creative and colorful than being logical, but still I didn’t know what the ad was trying to say at all – what not to expect from it? Bursting into flames, growing trunks and etc.? Well, yeah we know that’s never going to happen! There was nothing about what the Z10 can do … so it was a miss for me! But then, it was voted the most popular ad in the NFL website, but still … what was that?

Another interesting piece of information that most people have somehow missed was this big goof-up from RIM Europe MD when interviewing for the BBC Radio Live 5. When asked the question “What have you learned from Apple?,” the RIM Executive actually ignores the question and speaks about the market and stuff. When the interviewer persists on this question, this guy amazingly ignores it again until the interviewer concedes defeat. Talk about a good publicity and assuring investors, right?

Foolishly speaking

BlackBerry Z10 has launched in Canada and the UK.On its launch day, Thorsten Heins (the CEO of BlackBerry) announced that it was more than 50% better than any other launch day in the history of BlackBerry in Canada. In the UK, the white Z10 is sold out (till Feb 18) through the Carphone Warehouse while other are also reporting strong sales. Off to a good start? Well, we’ll have to wait and see for that once BlackBerry Z10 launched in other geographies. Currently BlackBerry’s P/E ratios stand at 19.7x and when comparing their stock value on their launch day ($12.92) to their current value ($16-17), BlackBerry seems to be on the right course. What remains to be seen is how they follow up the Z10 and the Q10.

2013 will definitely be the year for BlackBerry to mount a serious comeback. They’ve started off the year by shrugging of skepticism and they’ve launched the Z10 successfully in UK and Canada. But they’ve still got a long way to go and 2013 is just the start of it. I, for one, would love to see them back as serious contenders because they always did make awesome devices, regardless of how they were positioned and marketed. But all said and done, this is a new start for them and if they get their strategy right, then their name will definitely be placed next to Robert Downey Jr … Sorry, I meant Apple.

The article Return of the Berry? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Ashley Sales.

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