Research In Motion’s BlackBerry smartphone provides on-the-go email, text messaging and Internet access to customers

Available in 150 countries, BlackBerry’s popularity has made RIM a leader in wireless solutions

With 21 million customers around the globe, Research In Motion Ltd., creators of the BlackBerry smartphone, have become a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of wireless solutions. Founded in 1984 by Mike Lazaridis, Chief Executive Officer and President, the company is headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario. In total, RIM employs over 8,000 people throughout the province.

In 1999, the BlackBerry smartphone was introduced as a wireless email solution, today the Blackberry provides customers with access to email, phone, short message service (SMS) messaging, web browsing, Internet and Intranet-based applications, and multi-media features. RIM continues to appeal to various customer bases with new smartphones, including the recently released BlackBerry Storm, the company’s first touch-screen smartphone. “The BlackBerry Storm is a revolutionary touch-screen smartphone that meets both the communications and multimedia needs of customers and solves the longstanding problem associated with typing on traditional touch-screens,” said Lazaridis.

Why Ontario

Stretching across 23 buildings, RIM is headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario – located in southern Ontario, approximately one hour west of Toronto. With a population of approximately 117, 000 the city is Ontario’s fourth largest urban area and ranks 10th in Canada.

In 2007 the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), a non-profit research organization, founded by John Jung, current Chief Executive Officer of Canada’s Technology Triangle (CTT), named Waterloo the “Top Intelligent Community”. The CTT is a regional economic development agency that markets the business potential of the Waterloo Region and is also a member of the Ontario Technology Corridor, a group that promotes Ontario’s enterprise opportunities to the world.

Ontario offers RIM many benefits, including access to highly skilled people, advanced manufacturing capabilities, close proximity to the United States and globally competitive costs. Ontario’s combined federal-provincial corporate income tax rate for manufacturers is more than three percentage points below the average in the United States, and is expected to be almost 10 percentage points lower by 2012.

Ontario’s 44 universities and colleges, including three in the Waterloo area –The University of Waterloo, Wilfred Laurier University and Conestoga College – produce 29,000 graduates every year in mathematics, engineering and science. Helping students, RIM is the largest private-sector employer of co-op students in Canada.

Business advantage

RIM has continually increased it’s presence in the United States smartphone space. During the first quarter of 2008, RIM captured 44.5% of the market, according to a report from IDC, a global provider of market intelligence.

The BlackBerry is available in 150 countries and is supported by 425 wireless carriers, including Canada’s Rogers Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc., the largest U.S. provider of telephone services and Internet access.

In 2008, RIM’s yearly revenue grew by 98% to over $6.01 billion. For a brief period, in November 2007, RIM had a market capitalization of $69.1 billion, surpassing the Royal Bank of Canada as the most valuable company in Canada.

Future growth plans

Building on past success, RIM is continually expanding their smartphone line-up, adding new models in 2009. In addition, RIM will continue researching and developing new technologies and continues to recruit employees throughout Ontario and globally.

Contact information

Research In Motion Ltd.
+1-519-888-7465
www.rim.com

Download a PDF of this story here.