Why RIMM guided lower: Blackberry Bold Delay

It seems to be party because of the delay of the Blackberry Bold until August.

Meanwhile, RBC Capital’s Mike Abramsky asserts in a research note this morning that AT&T (T) appears likely to launch the new 3G Blackberry Bold in mid-August, two or three weeks later than expected, “as it continues to stabilize the device” on its 3G HSPA network. He reports that the launch with Rogers in Canada is on track for July, with other carriers expected to offer the phone later in August.

Here is a review from PC Magazine on the Blackberry Bold. It does look pretty impressive and may be gracing the hip holsters of lots of corporate types as well as regular consumers come fall.

RIMM Falls on Margin Shrinkage and Rising Costs

It seems like the kind of time that the stock will get beaten down short term so you can go long at a discount. I love getting some free margin of safety on short-term fears. I'm hoping it drops under $100 or hits near term lows in the $90 range so I can load up. I think the future of mobile phones will be in the smart phones arena in the next few years.

But it was the spike in expenses and a decline in gross margins that had analysts on the company's conference call worried.

Gross margin for the quarter fell to 50.7% from 51.8%, the same quarter a year ago.

The company's selling, general and administrative expenses grew 22%, compared to expectations that pegged the rise at around 17% to 18%. That means the company spent about $10 million more than it had expected, pointed out Citigroup analyst Jim Suva.

RIM tried to allay concerns and suggested the increased spending is on marketing in anticipation of new product launches later this year.

Meredith Vieira is an IPhone Doof

I was watching the Today show this morning and I think the IPhone had its first major gaff. This article had the rundown of Meredith Vieira failing to use the IPhone on national television.

Apple's media blitz didn't escape first-day glitches. On NBC's "Today"
show, co-host Meredith Vieira first met with problems simply getting the iPhone
to work to show off its features, laughing that "this is why gadgets drive me
crazy."

Later, with a team of Apple representatives hovering off-screen,
Vieira was supposed to receive a call from co-host Matt Lauer in London. The
iPhone — billed by Apple as the most user-friendly smart phone ever — displayed
the incoming call, but she couldn't answer it.

She was furiously trying to get the thing to pick up and couldn't do it correctly. I wonder if other clueless folks out there are having trouble with their IPhones as well? It that is true then Research In Motion (RIMM) with today's massive numbers will probably be the big winner. Maybe I'll look carefully at RIMM stock when they have their 3 for 1 stock split on August 17th.