Citing its competitive environment, RIM’s CEO Thorstein Heins said he expects Q1 ‎results that will likely result in an operating loss for the year.

The company says it is working hard on the business market, and its global customer ‎base, including countries where it remains strong.

It has also hired bankers JP Morgan and RBC Dominion Securities to help it assess its ‎strategic options. Often this is code for looking for a buyer.  That seems possible this ‎week as Facebook announced it is interested in building a mobile platform of its ‎own.

RIM nevertheless has over $2B in the bank, expects that to grow, and has received ‎promising reviews at the launch of its BB10 product at a key developers summit ‎recently.