Analysts cut RIM price targets after qtly loss

REUTERS - At least four analysts slashed their price targets on Research in Motion after the Canadian company said BlackBerry shipments slumped for its holiday quarter.

On Thursday, RIM said it would no longer issue financial forecasts as it recorded its first quarterly loss under generally accepted accounting principles since the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005.

RIM faces competition across all its products -- from Apple Inc's iPhone 4S and the new iPad, smartphones using Microsoft's Windows software and cheaper smartphones powered by Google Inc's Android, Canaccord Genuity analysts said.

In a "blossoming smartphone market," RIM's volumes over the next one year could actually drop 25 percent, as the existing BB7 devices are not competitive and as RIM's share in the international markets is rapidly eroding, Credit Suisse said.

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity, Barclays Capital, Nomura and Credit Suisse slashed their price targets on the U.S.-listed shares of the company.

Portfolio improvements in the lower end from Nokia could also hurt RIM's share in the international markets, Credit Suisse analysts said, adding that only the potential for a sale of the company keeps their rating on the stock at a "neutral."

On Thursday, RIM's new Chief Executive Thorsten Heins announced the initial steps in a strategic overhaul and would not rule out an eventual sale of the company.

But analysts are skeptical of the company's turnaround efforts. Barclays Capital said the emphasis on customer retention made sense, but questioned the focus on enterprise.

Nomura analysts said RIM was unlikely to succeed as a standalone ecosystem, even if it did find some partners.

"Management still seems keen to succeed at both the high and low ends of the smartphone market, all while still building a standalone application ecosystem," Nomura analysts said.

Shares of RIM closed at C$13.69 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday. RIM's U.S.-listed shares closed at $13.73.

(Reporting by Tenzin Pema in Bangalore; Editing by Don Sebastian)