BlackBerry boss on the defensive

In an interview with the NYT last week, Research In Motion co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis bitterly defended his company’s success with a few questions of his own.

 “Why is it that people don’t appreciate our profits?” he asked. “Why is it that people don’t appreciate our growth? Why is it that people don’t appreciate the fact that we spent the last four years going global? Why is it that people don’t appreciate that we have 500 carriers in 170 countries with products in almost 30 languages?”

He concluded by saying: “I don’t fully understand why there’s this negative sentiment, and I just don’t have the time to battle it. Because in the end, what I’ve learned is you’ve just got to prove it over and over and over.”

Lazaridis is likely frustrated because while BlackBerry smartphones are selling well, the industry just doesn’t seem to talk about the firm with the same buzz as Apple, for example.

It may not help that the company recently had to delay shipment of its PlayBook tablet PC because of supply chain shortages – apparently because of Apple buying up components for the iPad 2.