Blackberry 1999 Annual Report Download - page 21

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•Continued acceptance of RIM’s products;
•Intense competition;
•Rapid technological change;
•Dependence on intellectual property rights;
•Risks relating to product defects and product liability;
•Risks relating to international operations;
•Risks associated with the year 2000 issue;
And other risks detailed from time to time in RIM’s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission and other regulatory authorities.
If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if assumptions underlying the forward-looking
statements prove incorrect, actual results could vary materially from those that are expressed or implied by these
forward-looking statements.
OUTLOOK
Increased distribution channels for the Inter@ctive Pager 950, the introduction of the Inter@ctive Pager 850 for
American Mobile, the rollout of the BlackBerry service and the planned introduction of new devices are expected
to contribute to growth in fiscal 2000.
Capitalizing on this growth opportunity involves continued focus on marketing and sales, fostering third-party
developer programs, continued efforts in research and development and increasing manufacturing capacity.
Marketing, sales and channel support will continue to be a key focus. Increased resources for direct sales and
marketing personnel, co-op marketing programs and the BlackBerry Server rollout will be a focus for the sales
and marketing group with the goal of broadening RIM’s exposure and awareness of both the RIM and
BlackBerry brands.
RIM will also continue its approach of catalyzing market demand for its technology solutions. The Company will
facilitate and support third party development using the Inter@ctive Pager 950 platform in order to broaden its
applications. Examples of these development initiative includes financial applications such as stock quotes, news,
and trading services, remote database management, games, dispatch applications, web “browser” and information
retrieval applications, as well as many other programs written for specific vertical niches.
RIM’s commitment to research and development will continue in fiscal 2000 as technical personnel focus on
projects related to next generation products, new form-factor products, advanced software and external developer
initiatives, together with improving and enhancing core radio technologies, encryption techniques, operating
systems, etc. In addition, RIM will continue to seek new research partners as it pushes the boundaries of wireless
innovation.
Management is committed to expanding capacity at the manufacturing facility to keep pace with accelerating
demand for RIM’s products. Budgets for additional equipment, plans for hiring additional staff and strengthening
supplier relationships are important components of RIM’s production plan.
Current cash reserves of $99 million combined with an unused banking facility are anticipated to be sufficient
to fund these strategic initiatives in the near term. Additional financial resources for manufacturing capacity and
working capital may be required if growth rates exceed management’s current expectations.
19
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