As the battle for the smartphone market heats up, comparisons abound between Research In Motion’s BlackBerry Storm, released in November, and Apple’s iPhone.

For starters, both devices boast a touchscreen, forgoing the buttons found on more conventional phones. But the more important comparison, from the bottom-line perspective, lies in which device carries a fatter margin. And on a cost-per-unit basis, the advantage for the moment appears to belong to Apple (AAPL). A new analysis of the BlackBerry Storm by market research firm iSuppli indicates the cost of components and manufacturing for RIM (RIMM) is slightly less than $203. By comparison, those costs for Apple’s iPhone 3G, the second iteration of the device, are less than $175.

Read the rest of this post

Verizon Wireless (VZ) and Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) have high hopes for the BlackBerry Storm, which they spent nearly two years developing as their big response to Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iPhone.

But despite a marketing campaign that cost more than $100 million, the smartphone has gotten off to a bumpy start. Some early buyers have complained about technical bugs with RIM’s first touchscreen BlackBerry, although others say most new gadgets have problems that need to be ironed out.

When Verizon Communications Inc. reports its fourth-quarter results Tuesday, investors will be looking for clues on how the Storm has fared. Verizon Wireless is the exclusive U.S. carrier for the device.

Read the rest of this post

U.K. paper The Guardian this morning reports that Orange, the mobile phone operator owned by France Telecom, is considering yanking Research in Motion’s (RIMM) BlackBerry Bold from its handset lineup–presumably in the U.K. market–because of what the paper calls persistent software errors.

The curious fact of the article is that it cites no one–it is “understood,” in the passive voice, that the device will be discontinued by Orange. And the article is actually more about the BlackBerry Storm than the Bold.

Read the rest of this post

Is it a coincidence that Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone 2.2 update was released on the same day the BlackBerry Storm hit stores with a touchscreen, 3G connectivity, and enterprise-friendly functionality that rivals anything Apple has on the market?

I think not.

Today’s iPhone update is Apple’s first salvo of many in its fight against Research In Motion (RIMM) for dominance over the cellphone industry. Some might say Apple’s decision to update the iPhone is pure coincidence, but I don’t think that the company is that naive.

Apple realizes that RIM is releasing a major offering that could shake Steve Jobs and Co. to its core, and it doesn’t want anyone to think it’s not doing everything it can to continually update its own product.

Read the rest of this post

The debut today of the Research In Motion (RIMM) BlackBerry Storm, the company’s first touchscreen phone, has drawn long lines at some Verizon Wireless stores, according to Reuters and other news reports. At some stores, people lined up by the “hundreds.”

Reuters notes that more than 200 people had waited at a Verizon store in midtown Manhattan early Friday, but that many were turned away after it ran out of phones less than an hour after it opened at 9 a.m.; according the report, “angry customers caused a ruckus and police came to restore order.”

Read the rest of this post

Verizon Wireless (VZ) and Research in Motion (RIMM) should be thanking one particular customer service rep for stopping at least one customer–me–from defecting to AT&T (T) and the [Apple] (AAPL) iPhone this week. I had called in to find out about altering my existing family plan and porting my phone over to AT&T when she asked me if I’d heard of the Blackberry Storm. Of course, I had–but I let her go through her pitch as to why I should wait for its arrival before making a decision.

The Blackberry Storm, you see, is supposed to be a real contender for the iPhone, she said. And though a date hasn’t been announced for the release of the Storm, the customer service reps are expecting it to become available anytime now. Nothing is official, of course–Verizon is being quiet about details of the release. But my rep, a veteran who has seen excitement around new phones in the past, said that when the advertising and marketing campaigns kick into high gear and when details about some of the phone’s features start trickling down to the agents, the launch date is getting close.

Read the rest of this post

Having followed activity in the BlackBerry ecosystem over the past few weeks, I have come to the conclusion that BlackBerry Storm should be called BlackBerry Stealth. Why? With little media coverage, its forthcoming launch is the sleeper play in the smartphone market; it is poised to make major market penetration on its launch later this fall. Let’s look at the reasons. …

Read the rest of this post