I’ve put a lot of time and thought recently into Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM), and I believe that it is worth updating where we stand on the company.

RIMM has been a frustrating holding for us, but I recommend that readers continue to hold for the time being. The company’s problems are well known—declining market share and lack of competitiveness against the iPhone and Android-powered phones—but the stock is cheap enough to be attractive as an asset play.

RIMM trades for barely two thirds of its book value, and the company’s assets are likely understated. Roughly a quarter of the stock’s market cap is its cash in the bank, and its patent portfolio is estimated to be worth even more.

Furthermore, RIMM’s Blackberry Enterprise Server remains the best device management system for large companies and agencies, and its release of Mobile Fusion—which allows companies to bring Androids and iPhones onto their BlackBerry Enterprise Servers—will only increase this dominance.

All the same, it can be painful to hold on to a stock when it seems that all of the news being released about it is negative. It turns out that all of the news isn’t bad. The company announced on April 9 that its share of the U.S. government market is actually increasing. RIMM sold over 400,000 devices to the U.S. government over the past year, and about 40 percent of the company’s government users upgraded their phones during that period.

And far more importantly, BlackBerry handsets remain wildly popular among consumers in many emerging markets, particularly in Africa. As ridiculous as this is, the BlackBerry is a big enough cultural icon in Nigeria to have been the subject of a popular movie last year, BlackBerry Babes.

In the end, RIMM’s success will hinge on Mobile Fusion. If the company can successfully transform itself away from hardware and into a services company, then it has a bright future. If not…well, at least the company can be sold for its assets at a profit.