On the evening of October 28, the BlackBerry Bold had its big debut in a $13 million triplex in Manhattan's trendy Tribeca neighborhood. Attendees who viewed Research in Motion's smartphone offerings as the buttoned-up, all-work counterparts to Apple's all-play iPhone might have been surprised to see an atmosphere closer to nightclub than corporate mixer, complete with music, mood lighting, and no shortage of cocktails. The event was put on by publicity firm Harrison & Shriftman, an agency that counts W Hotels, Veuve Cliquot, and Cartier as clients. They're now on retainer for the BlackBerry brand.

The fête marking BlackBerry's new handset is just one example of many steps that R.I.M. is taking in an effort to hold its ground against Apple. A year and a half ago, Research in Motion still ruled the smartphone roost, with Palm as its only real competitor; now, they're scrambling to stay ahead of one of the world's deadliest branding machines.

For the quarter ending in May, before the iPhone 3G launched, R.I.M. spent a total of $326.6 million on sales, marketing, and administrative expenses; that number will shoot up to $420 million for the quarter ending in November, according to Pacific Crest Securities analyst James Faucette, who says a large majority of that increase will be directly attributable to increased marketing and promotional spending.

That sort of spending has been necessary to try to keep consumers engaged with the BlackBerry brand, especially since the launch of the BlackBerry Bold handset has been plagued by a series of delays. Meanwhile, Apple's iPhone 3G became the top-selling smartphone in the third quarter of 2008, relegating BlackBerry's Curve to the No. 2 spot.

Although the issues impeding the release of the Bold are ostensibly software issues, Apple may have had some role in keeping the Bold off the U.S. market until November 4.

The official reason R.I.M. and AT&T have given for the Bold delay was an extended testing period at AT&T labs due to issues with the device. According to Faucette, the network issues AT&T had to resolve for the iPhone this summer probably impacted the carrier's ability to get the Bold to market as quickly as they could have otherwise.

More cynically, there is also speculation that AT&T saw Bold as the weaker product, and dragged its feet on the testing to give the iPhone a full window before cycling in R.I.M.'s latest model.

Competing with Apple has also meant a hit to R.I.M.'s historically high gross-product margins, which have been an integral part of R.I.M.'s business model. Unlike Apple, R.I.M. has negotiated revenue-sharing agreements with service providers like AT&T, meaning less generous subsidies for R.I.M.'s pricey handsets. When Apple's $199 iPhone came around, that model needed changing.

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."