RIM fires back in smart-phone word war
Steve Jobs' comments Monday are still getting attention as RIM responds with strong words. We pick the winners.
Meow! We're seeing a hissing match of epic proportions this week as tech executives blast each other in the smart-phone wars. Let's see what's being said and pick the winners.Kicking things off, of course, was Apple (AAPL) chief executive Steve Jobs, who went on a remarkable rant against competitors in his earnings call Monday. He unloaded on Google (GOOG) and Research In Motion (RIMM) in particular, and those companies are responding in kind. Or not so kind.
Winner? Jobs. Although some people might find his venting distasteful, he's on to something. BlackBerries have lost their momentum, and RIM's latest "iPhone killer" -- the BlackBerry Torch -- was simply a catch-up product.
Jobs was wrong to compare two different sales periods -- Apple's quarter ends in September, and RIM's ends in August -- but RIM has clearly lost market share to Apple this year. Apple sold 14.1 million iPhones in the quarter, while RIM shipped 12.1 million BlackBerry devices in its recent quarter.
And Balsillie's comment isn't exactly correct. Customers aren't yet tired of being told what to think by Apple. In fact, many customers happily immerse themselves in Apple's closed ecosystem, preferring the compatibility and ease of use. Now, developers might be another story. But customers are fine, as evidenced by Apple's recent earnings.
Next let's move on to tablets -- specifically, Apple's iPad vs. RIM's 7-inch PlayBook, which is due early next year. "This size isn't sufficient to create great tablet apps, in our opinion," Jobs said in the earnings call (the iPad's screen measures 9.7 inches).
Balsillie wasn't pleased. "For those of us who live outside of Apple's distortion field, we know that 7 (-inch) tablets will actually be a big portion of the market," he said. "We also know that while Apple's attempt to control the ecosystem and maintain a closed platform may be good for Apple, developers want more options."
Winner: Balsillie. RIM must have thoroughly researched the market potential of a 7-inch tablet, so I believe him when he says that size will work. Dell (DELL), Samsung and others are developing 7-inch tablets as well, and there's nothing yet to show that the smaller size limits app quality.
Google chose to play it coy this week after Jobs criticized the various implementations of its Android platform. Google gives Android to phone makers for free, letting them customize the software to their liking. As a result, Android phones are able to differentiate each other.
Jobs implied that the fragmentation causes its own set of problems.
Say what? A Google spokeswoman told the Journal that Rubin sent out the computer command to download the Android source code and start developing.
Winner: A tossup. Google took the high road and didn't stoop to Jobs' level. But its response was bizarre and didn't say much. Jobs gets away with criticizing Google's approach and planting the idea that open isn't always better.
Finally, a developer jumped into the fray. The chief executive of TweetDeck, which people use as a companion to Twitter, responded as well.
Jobs said that TweetDeck "had to contend with more than a hundred different versions of Android software on 244 different handsets." And, adding insult to injury, he mixed up TweetDeck's name and called it "TwitterDeck."
That was enough to elicit a response from TweetDeck founder Iain Dodsworth. "Did we at any point say it was a nightmare developing on Android? Errr nope, no we didn't. It wasn't," Dodsworth said on Twitter.
Winner: Dodsworth. His response made it seem like Jobs was picking on the little guy and making up facts to enforce his case.
Now that all parties have had their say -- and the tech world has talked of nothing else for three days -- here's hoping that the issue will die down. This kind of sniping is better left to the cast of "Jersey Shore."
More from MSN Top Stocks:
| Tags: | AppleKim Peterson |
MORE ON MSN MONEY
DATA PROVIDERS
Copyright © 2013 Microsoft. All rights reserved.
Quotes are real-time for NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX. See delay times for other exchanges.
Fundamental company data and historical chart data provided by Thomson Reuters (click for restrictions). Real-time quotes provided by BATS Exchange. Real-time index quotes and delayed quotes supplied by Interactive Data Real-Time Services. Fund summary, fund performance and dividend data provided by Morningstar Inc. Analyst recommendations provided by Zacks Investment Research. StockScouter data provided by Verus Analytics. IPO data provided by Hoover's Inc. Index membership data provided by SIX Financial Information.
Japanese stock price data provided by Nomura Research Institute Ltd.; quotes delayed 20 minutes. Canadian fund data provided by CANNEX Financial Exchanges Ltd.
STOCK SCOUTER
StockScouter rates stocks from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best, using a system of advanced mathematics to determine a stock's expected risk and return. Ratings are displayed on a bell curve, meaning there will be fewer ratings of 1 and 10 and far more of 4 through 7.
137 | 298 | 469 | 654 | 591 | 592 | 690 | 490 | 318 | 150 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
LATEST POSTS
Here's a list of ways to profit from the potential move from defensive to cyclical stocks.
FIDELITY VIEWPOINTS
- How to sell covered calls - Fidelity Investments
- Savvy year-end tax moves to consider now - Fidelity Investments
- Seven ways to prepare for tax changes
- Five reasons an annual review is crucial - Fidelity Investments
- Take a look at mid caps now - Fidelity Investments
- State of the sector: Health care - Fidelity Investments
VIDEO ON MSN MONEY
ABOUT
Top Stocks provides analysis about the most noteworthy stocks in the market each day, combining some of the best content from around the MSN Money site and the rest of the Web.
Contributors include professional investors and journalists affiliated with MSN Money.
Follow us on Twitter @topstocksmsn.