Things are looking dire for smartphone icon Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM). Reaching out to consumers rather than the business customers that had fueled dramatic growth has failed to reignite the company.

The company’s BlackBerry Playbook tablet PC hit the market with a resounding thud in April, its chance to broaden the company’s appeal completely drowned out by Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad, much in the same way its phones have been drowned out by the iPhone and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android devices. The stock hit $27 on Friday, a low not seen since 2006.

RIM’s tale is a cautionary one — the technology business, whatever your product, is a mercurial beast. Gadgets and electronic services evolve at a staggering pace. Five years ago, RIM had the smartphone market all to itself, and its refusal to diversify iin the face of changing tastes may prove to be its death knell.

But RIM isn’t alone — here are three other tech companies in peril of following RIM’s downward spiral:

Nintendo (PINK:NTDOY)

Just two years ago, Nintendo was on top of the video game world. Its Wii video game player was outselling Microsoft‘s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox 360 by nearly 2-to-1 every month, and Sony‘s (NYSE:SNE) Playstation 3 console by nearly 3-to-1. Its DS portable game player nearly knocked off the Playstation 2 to become the best-selling game player in history.

Now the stock is trading under $24, below where it was two months before the Wii was released. Like RIM, Nintendo’s business is getting eaten alive by Apple’s iPhone and iPad business. Why would consumers spend $250 on Nintendo’s new 3DS where each game costs $40, when they can get games of similar quality for $1.99 on Apple’s machine? That its new home device, the WiiU, has a simple tablet for a controller betrays how hard the company is flailing to keep up.

Nokia (NYSE:NOK)

RIM isn’t the only phone manufacturer that’s tanking in June. Nokia is currently trading around $6, returning to levels not seen since 1998. More people use Nokia phones worldwide than any other brand, but no manufacturer has less value as a stock. CEO Stephen Elop said in an internal note in February that due to the company’s failure to distinguish itself in the smartphone market, it was standing “on a burning platform.” The platform is just about burnt. Nokia’s size and reach means that there is a chance to recover, but right now it seems more likely that it will fall just like RIM.

This is because of Nokia’s decision to exclusively partner withMicrosoft going forward. Microsoft is a powerful ally with massive marketing resources, but Nokia needed openness more than anything to save its business. Foregoing support of multiple smartphone operating systems, like Google’s Android in addition to Windows Phone 7 — as HTC has done — may be Nokia’s downfall.

Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO)

It could be argued that RIM was repeating Yahoo’s mistakes rather than the other way around.  The onetime face of all Internet-based industry, Yahoo has been run down on multiple fronts — its advertising business, as well as its web services like email, having been dogged by Google over the past decade. The company isn’t done just yet, though. What Yahoo needs now is what it’s needed for five years running: a clear identity. If Yahoo pours its resources into growing its advertising business rather than trying to milk value out of its search technology, entertainment, and services, it can possibly avoid a RIM fate.

At the time of publication, Anthony James Agnello didn’t own any stocks mentioned in this article.