Telecom & Wireless

BlackBerry Service Crashing Again

Almost exactly a year ago, Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) experienced a network outage that lasted three days and affected users around the world. This morning the company is experiencing a similar outage affecting users in some parts of the world.

The company has issued a brief statement, cited in The Wall Street Journal, calling the problem a “service issue impacting some users in Europe, the Middle East & Africa. All relevant support teams are working to resolve the issue. We apologize to any customers who may be affected.”

RIM did not offer any reason for the problems.

The outage probably could not have come at a worse time for the company. The iPhone 5 from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) goes on sale around the world today, and the impact on RIM would have been serious even without the network issue. The company has been losing market share for years to Apple and smartphone makers that use the Android operating system from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). Today’s outage will only speed up the losses.

RIM’s shares closed down more than 4% yesterday, at $6.91, and are down another penny in premarket trading this morning. The stock’s 52-week range is $6.33 to $24.74.

Paul Ausick

It’s Your Money, Your Future—Own It (sponsor)

Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? For families with more than $500,000 saved for retirement, finding a financial advisor who puts your interest first can be the difference, and today it’s easier than ever. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three fiduciary financial advisors who serve your area in minutes. Each advisor has been carefully vetted and must act in your best interests. Start your search now.

If you’ve saved and built a substantial nest egg for you and your family, don’t delay; get started right here and help your retirement dreams become a retirement reality.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.

AI Portfolio

Discover Our Top AI Stocks

Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.

You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.