Apple Inc. (AAPL): Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY) Sets the Table for Future Success

These two formerly highflying mobile stalwarts are both in the midst of significant turnaround efforts, and have both hitched their wagons to their new, cutting-edge smartphones.

Nokia shareholders were pleasantly surprised with the 4.4 million Lumia units it sold last quarter — more than four times the sales of BlackBerry’s Z10. But BlackBerry’s rollout of BB10 was confined to select markets only and excluded the all-important U.S. consumer.

BlackBerry shared a lot of good news, but the toppers for its prospects going forward are its new BB10, the Z10 smartphone, and the soon-to-be-released (in the U.S.) Q10 smartphone. Why? Because the staggered rollout of BlackBerry’s flagship devices had little to no impact on a solid Q4.

For a company that most observers assumed needed to take several calculated baby steps to return to relevance, BlackBerry’s Q4 was a quantum leap. If it can sustain this performance, the best may be yet to come.

The article BlackBerry Sets the Table for Future Success originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Tim Brugger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Apple.

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