RIM squeezes suppliers as demand for its smartphone surges

Surging sales of its BlackBerry smartphones is giving RIM the opportunity to reduce costs with its suppliers. In an interview at his Waterloo, Ontario office, Co-Chief Executive Officer Jim Balsillie said, "Being a strong growth company in a challenging environment makes you an important customer."

I personally think that Balsillie is likely trying to allay the concerns of investors about the effects of discounts on the company's margins. As it is, the stock has dropped about 12 percent over two months. RIM is obviously confident that it will be able to elicit better prices from its suppliers, since RIM has gone ahead to announce that gross margin will expand this quarter. The release of BES 5.0 next month, can only ramp up demand.

To read more about this story:
- check out this article from Bloomberg.com

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