Don’t Believe the Hype, Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY) is Here to Stay

Android Monopoly

Just as iPhone fatigue has begun to enter investors’ minds, the idea that a company must either produce its own OS or use Android has come under threat. BlackBerry has made it clear that they are open to potentially licensing their OS. With a client base of over 80 million customers and many more who have used a variation of the older BlackBerry OS’s, this could also be a lucrative profit center.

Google is ubiquitous in our lives today from their maps to search to emails. Google is not concerned with making money on their OS but using it as a doorway to connect users to their search portal. As we all know the mobile net is the future — with each generation of smartphone we can do more and more from our phones.  Google has purchased Motorola and will make a strong push into handsets, but the BlackBerry brand is still considerably stronger than that of Motorola whose last hit phone was the Razr half a decade ago.

I believe that not only can BlackBerry compete with a much stronger handset than Google’s Motorola, it can also begin to erode the Android monopoly by licensing their OS.

The company has made a strong commitment to their handset line — even switching their stock ticker to reflect the BlackBerry name. They have an incredibly strong patent portfolio and a potentially licensable OS. They do not need a game changer as a phone for BB10 — just a cool, hip, me-too product for the North American market.  They will continue to grow throughout the world and recapturing a smaller percentage of their old market share will help breathe new life into the stock.

BlackBerry definitely deserved the devaluation it received over the last couple years but it seems like they have truly righted the ship.

The article Don’t Believe the Hype, BlackBerry is Here to Stay originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Moustafa El Zanaty.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.