RIMM - Possible infrastructure issue. More subscibers than the system can handle? Makes me wonder more and more if RIMM is a short given iPhone and the other smartphones coming on the market etc. I just haven't had the huevos to short RIMM.
Reuters
BlackBerry outage hits network in North America
Wednesday April 18, 9:51 am ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The BlackBerry mobile e-mail network used by millions has been interrupted in North America, but is expected to be back to normal soon, device manufacturer Research In Motion Ltd. (Toronto:RIM.TO - News; NasdaqGS:RIMM - News), said on Wednesday
BlackBerry became a technology must-have in the late 1990s for those in government, financial and legal sectors, delivering e-mail, phone calls, and the Internet to people on the move. It is now jokingly called the "CrackBerry" by many who appear addicted to the device.
"We are currently experiencing a service interruption that is causing delays in sending or receiving messages," Research in Motion said on an automated customer service help line.
A short while later, the company said that it had restored service for most customers and was reviewing the cause of the interruption.
The company's shares fell about 1 percent to $130.17 on concerns that the outage might be widespread and long-lasting for Research in Motion's prime revenue generator.
It was not yet how many of Research in Motion's nearly 8 million customers were affected. Some users in Canada and the United States have said their devices were operating properly.
A representative for Waterloo, Ontario-based Research In Motion was not immediately available for further comment.
According to media reports on Wednesday, the infrastructure failed on Tuesday night, and e-mails were not being delivered to the pocket-sized BlackBerry devices. Web site WNBC.com cited company officials as saying that they were trying to reset the system.
The outage comes about one week after the company reported higher quarterly results that failed to exceed Wall Street most optimistic expectations.
On that same day, RIM disclosed that an informal inquiry by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission into past stock-option grants has been upgraded to a formal investigation.
