Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Blackberry Introduces the Storm

It seems like the kind of phone that will give the IPhone a run for their money. This is the part that will be the main selling point for me.

The browser supports full HTML and allows you to pan with your finger or use an onscreen cursor that floats above and to the left of your finger. That makes pressing links even easier.

I just hate having to browse the Internet using that crappy Verizon interface where you have to hit number keys to go to different links. It would be cool to go to ESPN.com and check scores without having to wade through 10 menus. It might be a good time to go long Research In Motion according to this.

Valuation may help as well. At its current price, RIM shares are trading at 12 to 13 times estimated earnings for the next four quarters. That's a sharp drop from the summer, when the stock carried a multiple in the low 30's. It is also below other peers even with the market sell-off; Apple is currently trading at a P/E ratio around 16-17 and even Motorola-- which is trying to spin off its money-losing wireless handset business -- trades at 15 times estimated earnings.

You are buying a company at 12-13 PE that is introducing a slew of new products for the consumer market that should sell fairly well. You just have to watch what the consumer does in the next few months. Will they pull back and start saving and make due with their old phone or would they pick up a new Blackberry? Any bump in consumer sentiment or retail sales will be pretty welcome for the smart phone market.

No comments: