Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY): BlackBerry Rebuffs, Says It ‘Will Be the First’ to Emerge From DoD Approval

Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) was the subject of a rather nasty rumor yesterday. In a report by Electronista, it was originally mentioned that the U.S. Department of Defense is ordering 650,000 iOS devices, which provoked BlackBerry haters to speculate that the device may be replaced by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s own products.

We originally covered this story here, but it’s worth noting that a DoD spokesman has already said, “We are not dumping BlackBerry as Electronista and others have indicated,” adding “We’re moving to multiple devices, and that includes BlackBerry.”

BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY)

Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)/BlackBerry Response

In an email to Insider Monkey this morning, a BlackBerry spokesperson shed more light on this situation, with an eye for what the future may hold for the company:

BlackBerry Statement
Our work with the U.S. Department of Defense is going well and the U.S. Department of Defense is moving forward with testing of BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 and the new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone.  We are currently working with the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and anticipate Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIG) and Security Requirement Guide (SRG) approval for the BlackBerry Device Service, BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry PlayBook by early April. BlackBerry was the first to go through the new SRG process by the Defense Department and will be the first to successfully come out of it.
Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) is obviously confident in the quality of their relationship with the DoD, and the agency’s move toward “multiple devices” shouldn’t be viewed as a negative for the tech giant. A little competition never hurt anybody, and that’s certainly the case now.
So, a little advice to all BlackBerry bears: take off the tin foil hats, come out from your cellars, and understand this news story with a sense of rationality. Like all rumors, this one had some bite for Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), but it has died out.
The company is certainly more popular than Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in some investor circles, but BlackBerry still doesn’t have quite the support from the world’s most talented investors as Cupertino does. Apple was still one of the top stocks hedge funds were buying in preparation for 2013.
Disclosure: none