Often, in hush-hush tones, Research In Motion is compared to Nortel Networks.

Both epitomized Canadian innovation and success. One flamed out and the other is wrapping up a dismal year.

So is the BlackBerry maker poised for a spectacular Nortel-like fall?

“Nortel failed because of bad strategic decisions,” said Ian Lee, a professor of strategy at the Sprott School of Management at Carleton University.

“They tried to be everything to everybody. They tried to be dominant in four or five different markets instead of picking one or two.”

Lee fears if RIM doesn’t stem its slide, it could find itself like Nortel, which sought bankruptcy protection in 2009.

“I don’t think RIM has the luxury of time,” Lee said, adding the company must make clear choices now instead of waiting for the QNX operating system, due out in the second half of 2012.

“They should announce, right now, they are shutting down the PlayBook, and getting out of that space, and concentrating completely on the enterprise market where it has competitive advantages,” he said.

But though RIM is flailing strategically, digital marketing strategist and former business journalist Mark Evans doesn’t think “RIM is the disaster Nortel was.”

There are key differences. Nortel made some terrible acquisitions and purchased more companies with shares, diluting the value of shares.

Nortel became mired in debt, unlike RIM which has no long-term debt and is sitting on more than $1 billion in cash.

Nortel, which evolved out of Bell Northern Research, went through a slew of CEOs including John Roth, Frank Dunn, Bill Owens and Mike Zafirovski.

RIM was a startup that has had co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, who are facing growing pressure from investors to make way to new leadership, all the way.

Mitchell Stein, an accounting professor at the Ivey School of Business, says this case illustrates “the classic problem of are people who start up a company always the best ones to manage it later on?”

Unlike RIM, Nortel was also mired in a serious accounting scandal, where numbers were manipulated so managers could meet profit targets and earn bonuses.

Stein said it then took years and millions to unravel the accounting problems, and top executives were distracted by it.

“It takes your attention away from what you should be doing,” he said. “The accounting problems have nothing to do with the strategy of the company.”

The tech landscape in 2012 is also much different than it was during Nortel’s heyday. Other tech companies also expanded and grew quickly, by issuing more stock. When Nortel began its steady decline, it wasn’t the only tech flame-out.

By contrast, the mobile industry is seen as hot, growing and healthy. Apple, Samsung, Google and others are doing well. Smartphone usage is on the upswing. Tablets are a hot item.

So RIM needs to figure out how to keep and get a bigger piece of market share, though it is still strong outside of North America.

It has nearly 75 million loyal subscribers worldwide, and handsets are still selling — but growth is not what it once was. And the PlayBook is still mired with problems including not having native email.

The tech world moves swiftly and dramatically. “One day, you’re at the top of the hill, and the next day, there’s no hill there,” Evans said.

Evans worries about the long-term implications for Canada’s tech industry if RIM craters, is bought by another company or has a smaller footprint.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“Then we lose more than RIM,” he said. “Canada is a seen a mobile hotbed right and RIM sits at the centre of that mobile world. If RIM disappears or if it’s not as big or as vital, Canada loses its status as up-and-coming global centre of excellence.”

And that means smart people have fewer places to work, they’ll make less money, they’ll get less experience and maybe they don’t start as many companies, he said.

“That’s the risk.”