Citi downgrades RIM for being amorphous to make money in a new niche

As Nokia has freed the niche in the market with the abandoning to develop its own software Research In Motion is missing crucial targets to introduce its new BlackBerry models, thus disregarding the still free space.

Citigroup downgraded RIM to “hold” from “buy” and explained in a note that new BlackBerry touchscreen models may miss the crucial back-to-school buying period due to production delays, while giants Apple and Google zoom ahead.

"Thus far our supply chain checks show that RIM's new models have not yet been certified by major wireless carriers and are not in mass production which concerns us," analyst Jim Suva wrote to clients.

Citi trimmed its target price on the company's shares to $45 from $80. The stock rose 2.4 percent to $37.61 on the Nasdaq on Thursday after falling in five of the last seven sessions. It has lost a third of its value this year.