US District Judge Richard Sullivan said that the plaintiffs failed to adequately allege that the company or various executives had made deliberate and material misstatements. Sullivan pointed out that BlackBerry clearly had failed to keep pace with rivals in developing smartphones and information technology.
He said that the defendants "have paid a price for their mistakes by way of demotions, terminations and sizable financial setbacks." But none of that gave rise to a securities fraud claim, Sullivan said. It is one of those cases where we agree completely. We had been warning that RIM, with its unique two CEO management was doomed for a good year before it really tanked.
The lawsuit, filed in 2011 by investor Robert Shemian, sought to recover losses on behalf of US shareholders who bought the company's stock from December 2010 through June 2011. The complaint cites slowing sales of its aging BlackBerry phone product line, delays in releasing a new operating system and a botched launch of its first tablet.