Is RIM in Trouble and What Might that Mean for Microsoft?

RIM's new results are out. Short version: shipments up, profits down. On the latter, they are down even below a revised forecast. As this item points out, http://bit.ly/kvszau, RIM have reduced the amount of data they give out in their quarterly reports, which is never a good sign of corporate success.

If in fact RIM is in as deep trouble as some would suggest, what does it say for Microsoft's prospects that it has hitched its own long-floundering mobile operation to two falling stars in Nokia and RIM?

It is possible that THE big unanswered question of the current moment is whether the MS alliances with Nokia and RIM will be able to rescue them, whether they will be what MS needs to be rescued in a market of which it owns a mere 3%, or whether all three companies are already too far behind to recover.