The launch of Research In Motion’s BlackBerry 10 (BB10) mobile...

buying power and a chronic inability to appeal to mature market consumers,” he said Monday. “Nothing” seen to date with BB10 indicates that the new OS will “conquer the second of these demons, and the first is utterly out of RIM’s control,” he said. RIM has “no debt, 80 million subscribers and profitability in the black in at least some recent quarters,” so it “can continue in this vein for years,” but RIM’s “glory days are past, and it is only a matter of time before it reaches a natural end,” he said. There have been “two major factors” working against RIM the last two years, he said: (1) Companies no longer account for the bulk of smartphones sold today; and (2) Individuals overwhelmingly choose devices other than a BlackBerry “when they make buying decisions.” Exact data weren’t made available, but Ovum’s analysis “suggests that RIM has always sold about half its devices to new customers and half to existing customers upgrading to a better phone,” he said. In most of the past two years, the percentage bought by upgrading customers has “significantly outweighed the portion bought by converts, and this makes it all the more important for RIM to retain existing subscribers,” he said. Most of the installed base in mature markets “delayed upgrading while BlackBerry 10 is pending, something that has unfortunately dragged on for far too long, thus lengthening the upgrade cycle and depressing results in the interim,” he said. “If BB10 delivers, it should produce a nice” boost for RIM’s results in the first two quarters of 2013, “at least as this pent up demand finally meets supply,” he said. “At its peak,” RIM shipped 12-15 million devices a quarter, but “there is no way it can hit this number on a sustainable basis once the BB10 launch filters through,” he said. BB10 “should have significant appeal to existing users,” but he doesn’t expect it to “win significant numbers of converts from other platforms,” he said. RIM didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the analyst’s remarks. The company said Monday that its new BlackBerry World storefront, formally BlackBerry App World, for BB10 will provide “one of the most robust music and video catalogs in mobile today.” BlackBerry World will include an extensive catalog of songs, movies and TV shows, with “most movies coming to the store the same day they are released on DVD, and next day availability of many current TV series,” RIM said. “The competitive offering will feature content from all major studios, music labels and top local broadcast networks,” and consumers will be able to preview tracks and access the content using multiple payment options, it said. The video download and rental section in BlackBerry World will initially be available in the U.S., U.K. and Canada only, it said. Varying by region and distributor, customers will have access to movies from companies including 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Starz Digital Media, Disney, Universal Pictures in the U.K. and Warner, RIM said. TV shows will be available from companies including ABC, BBC Worldwide, CBS, National Geographic, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Starz, Fox, Univision and Warner, also varying by region, RIM said. BlackBerry World’s digital rights management-free music download section will feature music from labels including Matador Records, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, RIM said. The music section will initially be available in 18 countries: Canada, the U.S., U.K., Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Australia, India, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore, it said.