On Wednesday, Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) shareholders got a rare and welcome reprieve from the typical onslaught of bad news of late.
The stock had jumped higher to the tune of 13% on more than three times the average daily volume before closing out the day with a healthy 10% gain. While initial reports suggested that the catalyst of the surge tied back to speculation that the BlackBerry maker may be put out of its misery and acquired by the likes of tech heavyweights -- either Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) or Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) jointly -- that conjecture overshadowed the real reason behind the move.
To unearth the real cause, you had to dig beneath those speculative acquisition headlines to find something based on undeniable fact. Something not spawned by dubious guessing games and questionable rumors. Something that is attributed to incontrovertible truth instead of "people familiar with the matter." Something ... with a slingshot.
Angry Birds.
At long last, after investors' seven long months of anxiously waiting with bated breath, RIM has delivered. The notoriously popular and addictive avian adventure to slay swine and rescue their offspring has now made its way to the PlayBook, fulfilling a promise personally made by co-CEO and co-Chairman Mike Laziridis. Investors rejoiced that the darkest days are over and welcome a signal that RIM's app platform has reached a maturity milestone long enjoyed by Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iOS and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android: quadriplegic fowl.
Presumably, the company had focused its resources toward strengthening its relationship with developer Rovio to help accelerate the game's arrival, while delaying other secondary functionalities such as native email and calendar apps. Also on the back burner are Android support and the delayed BlackBerry 10 operating system that will run all future BlackBerrys.
As the saying goes, "The darkest hour is just before the dawn." Research In Motion's darkest hour has been the last few quarters, and its dawn is pulverizing green pigs with an arsenal of multitalented, multicolored birds with a taste for vengeance.
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