BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion, Ltd. (RIMM) announced that it has bought TinyHippos Inc, which develops software for mobile applications. The acquisition enables the company to support multiple platforms on mobile handsets.
TinyHippos are primarily known for their popular product called Ripple. It performs many functions like JavaScript debugging, HTML DOM inspection, automated testing, as well as multiple device and screen resolution emulation in real-time without redeploying the mobile application or restarting the emulator.
Research In Motion is set to launch their new PlayBook tablet on April 19, 2011 at more than 20,000 retail outlets across the US and Canada. The new device will work on QNX operating system, which the company acquired in early 2010 and is believed to be much user-friendly compared to its existing BlackBerry 6 operating system.
Research In Motion have realized that they need to upgrade their system in order to retain their market share as well as to attract more customers. Recently, they have teamed with Google’s (GOOG) most popular Android operating system in order to provide more than 2,00,000 applications to its PlayBook users.
Hence, we believe that Research In Motion is preparing to compete with other tablets present in the market like Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iPad, Samsung’s Galaxy and Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc.’s (MMI) XOOM by continuously upgrading itself. The company is planning to offer multiple platforms to its customers by either partnering with other software developers or by simply buying out the firms.
However, we are apprehensive about the success of PlayBook due to the following reasons. 1) Research In Motion has teamed up with Android to offer Android 2.3 operating system to its tablet series. It is believed that Android 3.0 is best suited for tablets while Android 2.3 is more appropriate for smartphones. 2) Research In Motion mainly specializes on BlackBerry platforms but for the first time they will use QNX operating system in their tablet series. So it is not clear how the system will operate in the new device.
We, thus, maintain our long-term Neutral recommendation for Research In Motion Ltd. Currently, Research In Motion Ltd has a Zacks #3 Rank, implying a short-term Hold rating on the stock.
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