1 By: Luc Lavers, Jess Pomeroy, George Kennedy, Matt Weir, Letian Shan, Lu Wenyue

COMPANY PROFILE Led by President and CEO Thorsten Heins Research In Motion is a wireless equipment and telecommunications company that is based in Canada. The company was founded by Mike Lazaridis (University of Waterloo) and Douglas Fregin (University of Windsor) in Headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario. Many offices around the world in North America, Asia, and Europe

PRODUCT LAUNCH “GO PRO” launch RIM went without a CMO from September-March 2011 Boulben stepped up to be RIM’s newest CMO The Playbook launch was one of RIM’s worst Adobe Flash was not enough for consumers

THE MARKETPLACE: DEMAND Year2011 (actual) 2012 (estimated) 2013 (estimated) 2016 (estimated) Units70.9 million117.1 million165.9 million million % Growth (From previous year) N/A65%42%56%

THE MARKETPLACE: COMPETITORS APPLE: IPAD CEO - Tim Cook Headquarters Cupertino, California Founded SAMSUNG: GALAXY TAB CEO - Geesung Choi Headquarters Seoul, South Korea Founded

PlaybookSamsung GalaxyiPad $179$249.99$329 1 gb Ram592 mb Ram512 mb Ram LCD LED 3.0 mp front 5.0 mp back 1.3 mp front 3.0 mp back 1.2 mp front 5.0 mp back 1080p video recordingReaders Hub 1080p video recording Apps Black and White

Capacitive 4- point multi- touch screen 4G LTE WIFI 7 inch display 1080p HDMI output 1080p HD video 16, 32, 64 GB Flash 1 GB RAM 0.94lb

Worldwide sales of Media Tablets to End Users by OS OS iOS83.90%68.70%63.50% Android(Samsung Acer) 14.20%19.90%24.40% MeeGo0.60%1.10%1.20% WebOS(HPpad)04.00%3.90% QNX(Playbook)05.60%6.60% Others1.30%0.60%0.50%

THE BROADER ENVIRONMENT ECONOMIC FORCES The Playbook launched near the end of the 2008 recession. When RIM cut the Playbooks massive price, the sales improved significantly. The cheaper price helped RIM sell their excess supply of Playbooks. DEMOGRAPHIC FORCES Original target market business Corporate vs. User Friendly Bringing out the PLAY in Playbook New approach to advertising for different target market

GOVERNMENT FORCES AND SOCIAL/CULTURAL FORCES Worldwide market share Market Share in Canada Android

SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths: Price of the Playbook Customer Loyalty Contract Manufacturing with Quanta Supports Adobe Flash Weaknesses: Price to produce Playbook Loss of CMO mid launch Lowered prices due to lower quantity demanded RIM sold their Playbooks at a loss Inexperienced in a new market Opportunities: Re-launch the 4G LTE Playbook Add an LED screen Lower manufacturing costs Develop international market share Universalize the interface of the Playbook Threats: New tablets hitting the market Manufacturing contract runs out Scarce advertising compared to competition Newer technologies

RECOMMENDATIONS After analysing the tablet market and RIM’s input into it, we agree that RIM’s Blackberry Playbook should remain in the tablet industry. With new markets opening in different parts of the world it could allow RIM to gain new market share. Also after viewing our SWOT analysis we understand that the weakness and threats to RIM can be fixed or do minimum impact in the long run. RIM has solid strengths and their opportunities can help them improve. Moreover, RIM has a loyal customer base and with a predicted increase in demand in the industry, it shows likelihood for new customers and higher profits.