Blackberry 2003 Annual Report Download - page 5

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Fellow฀Shareholders,฀Fiscal฀2003฀was฀an฀exciting฀year฀for฀Research฀In฀Motion฀as฀a฀number฀of฀key฀
milestones฀in฀the฀Company’s฀development฀were฀acheived.฀The฀BlackBerry฀subscriber฀base฀grew฀67%฀from฀
321,000฀at฀the฀end฀of฀scal฀2002฀to฀534,000฀at฀the฀end฀of฀scal฀2003฀and฀there฀are฀now฀in฀excess฀of฀10,000฀
corporations฀using฀BlackBerry฀Enterprise฀Server™฀software.฀We฀are฀also฀pleased฀to฀report฀that฀we฀have฀
accomplished฀the฀goals฀we฀set฀out฀in฀last฀year’s฀Annual฀Report.฀This฀year,฀the฀Company฀began฀to฀reap฀the฀
rewards฀of฀the฀technology฀and฀infrastructure฀investments฀we฀have฀made฀over฀the฀past฀several฀years฀and฀
we฀expect฀to฀see฀this฀success฀continue฀into฀scal฀2004.
Last฀year,฀we฀outlined฀a฀number฀of฀objectives:
1.฀฀To฀signicantly฀increase฀our฀BlackBerry฀subscriber฀base฀in฀North฀America฀and฀globally
฀>฀The฀BlackBerry฀subscriber฀base฀grew฀67%฀from฀321,000฀to฀534,000
2.฀ To฀work฀closely฀with฀our฀carrier฀partners฀to฀facilitate฀launch฀and฀adoption฀of฀BlackBerry฀on฀their฀networks
฀>฀BlackBerry฀is฀now฀available฀on฀over฀50฀networks฀in฀30฀countries฀around฀the฀world
3.฀ Make฀BlackBerry฀products฀for฀CDMA2000฀1X฀and฀iDEN®฀commercially฀available,฀as฀well฀as฀additional฀
฀ GPRS฀handhelds
฀>฀Launched฀the฀BlackBerry฀6750TM฀for฀CDMA2000฀1X,฀the฀BlackBerry฀6510TM฀for฀iDEN฀and฀the฀
฀ ฀ BlackBerry฀6700฀and฀BlackBerry฀6200฀Series฀for฀GPRS
4.฀ Grow฀the฀BlackBerry฀opportunity฀through฀the฀strategic฀licensing฀of฀the฀BlackBerry฀technology
฀>฀Launched฀the฀BlackBerry฀Connect™฀program฀and฀signed฀licensing฀agreements฀with฀
฀ ฀ a฀number฀of฀handset฀and฀wireless฀operating฀system฀vendors
5.฀ Expand฀the฀number฀of฀Java™฀based฀third฀party฀applications฀available฀for฀BlackBerry฀in฀order฀to฀
฀ drive฀value฀for฀our฀customers
฀>฀Launched฀Mobile฀Data฀Service฀(MDS)฀to฀enable฀customers฀to฀access฀enterprise฀applications฀
฀ ฀ using฀the฀secure฀BlackBerry฀infrastructure
These฀goals฀have฀been฀acheived.฀A฀detailed฀update฀on฀the฀business฀and฀our฀specic฀goals฀for฀scal฀2004฀
will฀be฀discussed฀in฀the฀following฀paragraphs.
Finance
RIM’s฀revenues฀in฀scal฀2003฀grew฀to฀$307฀million฀from฀$294฀million฀in฀the฀previous฀year.฀While฀the฀
economic฀environment฀continued฀to฀be฀challenging฀during฀scal฀2003฀and฀delays฀in฀2.5G฀network฀rollouts฀
hampered฀growth฀in฀the฀early฀part฀of฀the฀year,฀we฀experienced฀signicant฀revenue฀growth฀in฀the฀fourth฀
quarter฀of฀the฀scal฀year฀as฀many฀of฀the฀new฀products฀under฀development฀were฀launched฀into฀the฀market.฀
The฀trend฀of฀strong฀subscriber฀and฀revenue฀growth฀exhibited฀in฀the฀latter฀part฀of฀scal฀2003฀is฀expected฀to฀
continue฀into฀scal฀2004฀as฀BlackBerry฀becomes฀increasingly฀entrenched฀as฀the฀wireless฀solution฀of฀choice฀
for฀enterprise฀customers฀and฀our฀carrier฀partners.
Letter฀to
Shareholders
Mike฀Lazaridis
President฀&฀Co-CEO
Jim฀Balsillie
Chairman฀&฀Co-CEO