RIM tweets of local success

CANADIAN HARDWARE MANUFACTURER Research in Motion (RIM) has excitedly boasted of its one million new users in Europe, a single bright spot in an otherwise bleak period for the firm.

The company has faced increased competition in the smartphone market from gadget makers like Apple, and the confused Korean firm Samsung, and recently its internal problems have been played out for all to see.

Today, though, it had some good news and on Twitter released this message, "Pow! @BlackBerry continues momentum across EMEA with 1 Million+ new subscribers added in less than 3 weeks. #teamblackberry ^CH".

This "continuing momentum" has been pretty hard to detect of late, during what have been some of the worst times in the firm's history.

First it was rubbished in a Morgan Stanley research note that accused it of squandering its opportunities and rush-releasing products before they were ready, and then one of its executives allegedly posted a guts-and-all open letter to its two biggest bosses.

"To the RIM Senior Management Team," it starts. "I have lost confidence. While I hide it at work, my passion has been sapped. I know I am not alone – the sentiment is widespread and it includes people within your own teams. Mike (Lazarides) and Jim (Balsillie), please take the time to really absorb and digest the content of this letter because it reflects the feeling across a huge percentage of your employee base."

The letter was batted away by the firm, however, which doubted the veracity of its claims and its stance. However, then the firm acknowledged that all was not sweet in Blackberry land.

"It is fair to say that the senior management team at RIM is nonetheless fully aware of and aggressively addressing both the company's challenges and its opportunities," it said in its response. µ