To compete, R.I.M. has had to reduce its revenue share or lower handset prices. The Bold will be priced at $300 (subsidized), compared with Apple's $199 (subsidized); margins are expected to shrink in coming quarters to the mid-40 percent range from the mid-50 percent range—and to stay that way.

By all accounts, the BlackBerry Bold will be a valuable addition to R.I.M.'s product line—the features have been vetted and test driven extensively by analysts and journalists in past months—but most agree that the device is more likely to serve as an upgrade for current users, rather than convert new ones away from the iPhone.

"Each of the two platforms have their own characteristics," says JMP Securities analyst Sam Wilson. "The iPhone is great for browsing, but email is mediocre. The BlackBerry is phenomenal at email, but mediocre at browsing."

Wilson believes that the soon-to-be-released touchscreen Storm, while still not playing at Apple's level in multimedia and browsing, will be "good enough to forestall business users with iPhone envy" from pushing for a switch.

Meanwhile, the iPhone's efforts to convert enterprise clients have seen minimal success, partly due to security features that are still inferior to what the BlackBerry offers.

That's one of the reasons why analysts like Piper Jaffray's Mike Walkley believe that despite recent difficulties, R.I.M. is positioned to succeed in smartphones, the most lucrative and rapidly growing segment of the handset market.

Still, things won't be easy in the near term.

R.I.M. has seen a nearly 70 percent drop in stock price since June (Walkley attributes this to the overall stock market sell-off combined with an overreaction to lowered guidance); sales figures for the past several months have been disappointing as we enter what Sam Wilson calls "a severe recession, not just a recession, which will deeply alter consumer spending over the next 12 months."

R.I.M.'s product delays mean that the company is relying on exceptionally brisk handset sales in November and December in order to meet revenue targets, just as wallets are tightening. And it's not just consumers cutting back: Businesses, looking to trim costs, are liable to wait on a Bold upgrade.

Walkley worries that consumers who are already eschewing the high-end handset models in favor of a $99 (subsidized) Curve will do the same when the Bold comes out.

"Research in Motion clearly has a strong North American brand, and should grow faster than the overall handset market," says Walkley. "I think they're one of the better-positioned brands longer-term. But it could be a rocky short-term road."