Blackberry 2000 Annual Report Download - page 5

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Financial
RIM’s revenue grew 80% to $85 million and net earnings grew 64% to $10.5 million. The majority of
revenue growth was driven by wireless handheld sales to BellSouth Wireless Data, Motient™ Corporation
(formerly American Mobile Satellite Corporation) and from BlackBerry handheld and service fees.
RIM also completed an equity offering in the fall of 1999, raising more than $172 million to fund
on-going technology development, sales and marketing initiatives, strategic acquisitions and increasing
production capacity.
BlackBerry
Since its introduction in January 1999, BlackBerry has
become the leading wireless email solution for mobile
professionals. By the end of February 2000, there were
2,900 companies using BlackBerry and more than 900
companies with BlackBerry Enterprise Server installed
in their organizations. By the fourth quarter of fiscal
2000, BlackBerry represented 41% of RIM’s revenue.
More importantly, BlackBerry has fundamentally
changed the way people use email and interact with
their associates. It has truly become an indispensable
tool for those who use it.
Technology
State-of-the-art and industry-leading technology is the base upon which RIM’s strategy has been built.
Our focus on these fundamentals remains unchanged. We will continue to invest in the people, technology,
tools and equipment necessary to ensure that RIM remains the leader in the wireless communications field.
To tap into a large base of highly skilled technology personnel, we opened a new office in Kanata, Ontario
in fiscal 2000, which focuses on the development of next generation radio technologies. We also received
another government funded research and development contract from Technology Partnerships Canada.
During the past year, we almost doubled R& D spending to $12.2 million and hired 68 highly qualified
new technical personnel. A further $5.2 million was spent on providing new equipment and tools for the
R&D team.
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