Blackberry 2001 Annual Report Download - page 7

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Technology
RIM’s core area of expertise continues to be industry-leading
wireless technology and enterprise software. In the past, we high-
lighted our focus on these fundamentals and this focus has not
changed. As in the past, we continue to invest heavily in recruiting
the most outstanding people and providing them with the best
possible tools and equipment to extend RIM’s technology lead.
We have 331 technical personnel at RIM, up from 186 last year. We are also substantially
expanding our technical facilities in Waterloo and Kanata, and have added a new facility
in Toronto. We increased gross research and development (R&D) spending during the year
from $12.2 million to $25.7 million and expect to continue deploying more resources in this
area during the upcoming year.
Major projects in the upcoming year include the launch of next-generation products, the
development of new product form-factors, the extension of RIM’s enterprise software
capabilities and continuous improvements to the BlackBerry offering.
Sales and Marketing
Last year we discussed the goal of increasing the strength and awareness of the
BlackBerry brand.
The level of BlackBerry brand awareness has increased substantially in the past year.
Targeted advertising and the advertising campaigns of our partners, combined with a
tremendous amount of press and word of mouth, has led to high BlackBerry brand
awareness in the corporate community and in popular culture.
A major initiative for the sales and marketing group going forward will be preparing to
enter and support the European market as well as bringing online many new channel and
GPRS network partners.
Valdis Martinsons
Chief Information Officer
2001 Annual Report >Research In Motion Limited
>5
This allows us to focus on our core areas of expertise and to leverage the strength of the
combined sales and support resources of these channel partners.