As the folks at Motley Fool Global Gains like to point out, foreign markets should offer investing opportunities for decades to come -- particularly China. Research In Motion
China has become the world's biggest wireless market in the last few years. According to its Ministry of Industry Information, the country contains roughly 487.4 million wireless subscribers.
How big might the market get? An IDC study forecasts 681.5 million subscribers by 2010. That's a big sweet spot for RIM, which has roughly 9 million subscribers at present.
But don't assume that RIM will immediately capture a hefty chunk of the Chinese market. At first, it seems the company will start selling its 8700g handset in major areas like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, in partnership with China Mobile
The good news is that RIM has demonstrated success in key Asian markets like Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. It certainly helps that the company has a trusted network for enterprise customers, and it's shown that it can keep up with innovative rivals such as Apple
For the next couple of years, RIM probably doesn't need the Chinese market. The company most likely has plenty of growth left in its core current markets. As its blowout first quarter showed, it's getting a ton of business from partners such as Verizon
With its stock up nearly 60% this year, RIM is far from cheap. But as management indicated in the conference call, it should have enough domestic momentum for several more years. Now, its deal in China gives the firm additional heft for the long term as well.
Further Foolishness, typed entirely with our thumbs:
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Fool contributor Tom Taulli, author of The Complete M&A Handbook, does not own shares mentioned in this article. He is currently ranked 2,650 out of more than 59,000 participants in CAPS.
