Research In Motion Ltd , the Canadian company that makes the BlackBerry

Research In Motion Ltd , the Canadian company that makes the BlackBerry, announced plans Thursday to focus on its core business customers. It was the latest in a series of developments as the company struggles to compete with Apple's iPhone and Apple's iPad and phones running Google's Android system.

Sept. 15, 2011: Research In Motion Ltd reports a sharp drop in net income and revenue in the fiscal second quarter and says it has sold far fewer PlayBook tablet computers than it expected.

Oct. 10: Email and Internet services are disrupted for three days, primarily outside North America. Research In Motion Ltd says a crucial link in its infrastructure had failed, and a backup didn't work either. By the third day, other users, including those in the US and Canada, were affected by a backlog of traffic.

Oct. 25: Research In Motion Ltd says it is delaying the launch of an upgraded operating system for the PlayBook until February, saying it isn't up to its standards yet. The company also says the new version initially won't have the popular messaging service Black Berry Messenger. It's the third delay announced since the features were promised in April.

Dec. 1: Research In Motion Ltd suspends two employees after their drunken rowdiness forced an Air Canada flight from Toronto to Beijing to be diverted to Vancouver. The two are later dismissed from the company.

Dec. 2: Research In Motion Ltd says it is writing off much of its inventory of PlayBook tablets after it had to sell them at a deep discount. The model originally priced at dollar 500 now costs dollar 200. The company says it's taking a pre-tax charge of dollar 485 million in the just-ended quarter. RIM also says it will sell fewer BlackBerrys in the holiday quarter than in the one that just ended. It also says it won't meet full-year earnings guidance of dollar 5.25 to dollar 6 per share, the third cut in a row.

Dec. 5: Police in Indonesia say a senior Research In Motion Ltd executive is a suspect in a stampede at a BlackBerry promotion there in November. Police say several people fainted and dozens were injured at the global debut of the BlackBerry Bold 9790.

Dec. 6: Research In Motion Ltd says ``BlackBerry 10'' will be the new name for its next-generation system after the company loses a trademark ruling on its previous name, BBX.

Dec. 15: Research In Motion Ltd says new phones deemed critical to the company's future won't be out until late 2012. The company says the Research In Motion Ltd BlackB erry 10 phones will need a highly integrated chipset that won't be available until mid-2012, so the company can now expect the new phones to ship late in the year. The company also says BlackBerry sales will fall sharply in the holiday quarter compared with the three months that ended Nov. 26. RIM says it would only ship between 11 million and 12 million Black Berrys in the fourth quarter, down from 14.1 million in the third quarter.

Jan. 22, 2012: Research In Motion Ltd founders Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis announce they will step down as co-CEOs. Thorsten Heins, a chief operating officer who joined RIM four years ago from Siemens AG, was named as their replacement.

Feb. 21:  Research In Motion Ltd finally releases an upgraded operating system for its PlayBook. The free upgrade allows for built-in email, calendar and contacts on the tablet, features promised within 60 days after the PlayBook's launch last April. The PlayBook had received negative reviews because it launched without an email program and the popular messaging service BlackBerry Messenger. The new version still doesn't include the messaging service.

Thursday: Research In Motion Ltdsays it plans to return its focus to its corporate customers after failing to compete with flashier, consumer-oriented phones. RIM says it will focus its consumer efforts on targeted offerings that tap the company's strengths and will explore partnerships and other opportunities for consumer products that aren't deemed central. Research In Motion Ltd says Balsillie has resigned from its board, and two top executives are leaving.

Source: The Economic Times