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.”
Research In Motion Ltd/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 StatementOur 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.
