Research In Motion Delivers Outstanding 4Q and Yearly Results

Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM) one of the Top 20 Innovators of The Innovation Index reported results for the three months and fiscal year ended March 1, 2008.

Revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 was $1.88 billion, up 102% from $930.4 million in the same quarter of last year. Revenue for the fiscal year ended March 1, 2008 was $6.01 billion, up 98% from $3.04 billion last year. Operating income for the fiscal year ended March 1, 2008 was $1.73 billion, up 114% from $807 million last year. RIM shipped 4.4 million smartphones in the fourth quarter and approximately 14 million smartphones during fiscal 2008.

Approximately 2.18 million net new BlackBerry(R) subscriber accounts were added in the quarter. At the end of the quarter, the total BlackBerry subscriber account base was over 14 million.

Future Earnings Guidance

Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 ending May 31, 2008 is expected to be in the range of $2.23-$2.30 billion. Net subscriber account additions in the first quarter are expected to be approximately 2.2 million. Earnings per share for the first quarter are expected to be in the range of $0.82-$0.86 per diluted share.

Bottomline:
RIM business shows no signs of slowdown from the economy. RIM beat the high end of revenue and earnings estimates for the latest quarter, and also gave a solid, uplifting outlook for the first quarter. RIM is firing on all cylinders thanks to the growth of consumer Blackberry smartphone business. "Heightened retail activities helped drive exceptional subscriber growth during the fourth quarter with net subscriber account additions growing more than 32% over the previous quarter and well over 2 million net subscriber accounts added in a single quarter for the first time," said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at Research In Motion. On a conference call to discuss the results, co-Chief Executive Jim Balsillie said 38% of the company's subscriber base are individuals or other non-enterprise users. Bastille also said more than half of RIM's new subscribers were non-enterprise customers. RIM is able to penetrate a new and growing consumer market of smartphones, grow the topline revenue, and is able to do this while maintaining the overall margins. The biggest advantage that RIM has over other smartphone makers is that the major wireless partners all sell RIM Blackberry smartphones - Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T (NYSE: T), another Top 20 Innovator of The Innovation Index. This creates tremendous marketing and distribution leverage.

RIM shares are up 9% in 2008. Innovation Index Group maintains a BUY rating on RIM with a Q4, 2008 share price target of $135 to $145. If RIM continues to deliver outstanding results for the rest of 2008, it is quite possible for RIM shares to surge beyond $150 in 2008. If RIM can add 2 million new accounts and ship over 4.4 million new smartphones, will Apple iPhone do equal or better in 2008? Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a Top 20 Innovator of The Innovation Index. Innovation Index Group believes that Apple will ship over 12 million iPhones in 2008. RIM and Apple are poised to kick their smartphone business into overdrive in 2008.

About Innovation Index Group:

Innovation Index Group, Inc. is a new investment management company focused on systematically identifying, tracking and investing in the most innovative publicly traded companies in North America – collectively called the Innovation Index. We have developed the Innovation Index Fund, LLC as our first vehicle to invest in the Innovation Index. Over the past six years, the Innovation Index has generated a gross average annual return of 40%*.

Innovation Index Group, Inc. and Innovation Index Fund LLC are registered California Corporations, and member of the Irvine Chamber of Commerce in Orange County. Further, Innovation Index Fund LLC is a private placement investment partnership organized under the California state regulations.

The Innovation Index Reports:

Invest in The Innovation Index - Innovation Index Fund tracks The Innovation Index
The Innovation Index closes 2007 at 66%* - 2007 Annual Report on the Innovation Index
Top 50 Innovative Companies in the world - 2007 Report on Top 50 Innovative Companies
Annual Report - Chapter One - Total Innovation Activity - 2006 Annual Report One
Annual Report - Chapter Two - The Top Innovator - 2006 Annual Report Two
Annual Report - Chapter Three - The Innovation Insights - 2006 Annual Report Insights
Innovation and Stock Performance Correlation - The Innovation Index and Stock Performance

About The Innovation Index

The Innovation Index introduced in December 2006 is a weighted stock price index of the top 20 Innovators in North America.

The Innovation Index returned 66% in 2007, and returned 174% over the previous five years (2002-2006). This assumes equal investment in each stock of The Innovation Index as of December 31, 2001. An average of $100 invested in The Innovation Index on December 31, 2001 returned $454 as of December 31, 2007. By comparison, $100 invested in S & P 500 returned 28% or $129, $100 invested in NASDAQ returned 34% or $136, and $100 invested in the Dow Jones Index returned 30% or $131 through December 31, 2007. The Innovation Index beats the S & P 500, NASDAQ and Dow Jones Index by more than seven times over the past six years.*

Alphabetical list of the Top 20 Innovators of The Innovation Index for 2008 and their stock ticker symbols:

3M Company - (NYSE: MMM)
Amazon.com, Inc. - (NASDAQ: AMZN)
America Movil - (NYSE: AMX)
Apple Inc. - (NASDAQ: AAPL)
AT&T Inc. - (NYSE: T)
Best Buy Co., Inc. - (NYSE: BBY)
Cisco Systems, Inc. - (NASDAQ: CSCO)
Costco Wholesale Corporation - (NASDAQ: COST)
eBay Inc. - (NASDAQ: EBAY)
General Electric Co. - (NYSE: GE)
Google Inc. - (NASDAQ: GOOG)
Hewlett-Packard Co. - (NYSE: HPQ)
Intel Corporation - (NASDAQ: INTC)
International Business Machines Corp. - (NYSE: IBM)
Merck & Co., Inc. - (NYSE: MRK)
McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD)
Microsoft Corporation - (NASDAQ: MSFT)
NIKE, Inc. - (NYSE: NKE)
Research In Motion Limited - (NASDAQ: RIMM)
The Proctor & Gamble Company - (NYSE: PG)

The Innovation Index will analyze the positions and standings of the Top 20 Innovators at the end of each year. For 2008, there will be no further changes in The Innovation Index.

Disclaimer: The Innovation Index Group, Inc. invests in the stocks comprising The Innovation Index.
*Past Performance Does Not Guarantee Future Results

References:
RIM Press Release and Conference Call