He certainly wants it out of his hair.
They've been stuck at (Palm OS Garnet) for two-plus years. It's a pretty ancient operating system that can't handle multitasking, can't handle protected memory, and doesn't have great security, all the things that Cobalt was supposed to deliver.
They've been pretty strict with the hardware requirements associated with their operating system. I think Microsoft needs to open up a little more if they hope to create devices that have a little more coolness to them.
I don't hear anything about there being any shortage of ISPs in this market, so they may find it a bit difficult.
Why HP, Dell, Nokia, Motorola, Palm, etc. have taken so long to create solutions that might strongly compete with RIM is difficult to comprehend. RIM has had a big target on their back for several years and everyone seems to keep finding ways of missing.
A growing portion of new users and users who are upgrading want better messaging capabilities, such as access to corporate e-mail, short message services, wireless LAN, or integration of a PDA with a mobile phone,
Given RIM is likely to generate at least $1.5 billion in revenue from the U.S. alone this year, it just would make a lot of sense for RIM to settle for whatever amount they can.
Since November 30th, I've talked to about 80 different companies, and only about four of them are seriously considering moving away from RIM.
There are plenty of other push-e-mail solutions out there, but I would say 75 percent of BlackBerry users look at other devices and don't find any of them particularly attractive.
The only question is whether the judge may allow the case to drag out a bit further or whether he's going to force some action this spring.
