SHARE

RIM Revenue Down for Q1, 500,000 Playbooks Shipped

Research In Motion earned $4.9 billion in revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2012, down 12 percent from the previous quarter. Net income also declined, and RIM executives on a June 16 earnings call acknowledged that the BlackBerry maker is undergoing a turbulent period in its long history. RIM s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, a […]

Written By

Channel Insider Staff

Jun 17, 2011

Channel Insider content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More

Research In Motion earned $4.9 billion in revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2012, down 12 percent from the previous quarter. Net income also declined, and RIM executives on a June 16 earnings call acknowledged that the BlackBerry maker is undergoing a turbulent period in its long history.

RIM s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, a 7-inch entrant into the increasingly competitive tablet market, shipped approximately 500,000 units in the first quarter. In the same time frame, RIM shipped approximately 13.2 million BlackBerry handsets. RIM has acknowledged in the past that BlackBerry sales are softening.

“The shortfall in the United States is primarily related to the age of the BlackBerry portfolio,” Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of Research In Motion, told analysts during the company s July 16 earnings call. “Despite that softness in the U.S. market, he cited apparent strength in certain international markets. Overall, international revenue in the first quarter grew 67 percent year-over-year.”

RIM has made no secret of its plans to introduce a set of superphones based on its QNX operating system, which currently powers the company s PlayBook tablet. However, those superphones aren t widely expected to reach store shelves before the second half of 2012, requiring RIM to rely on BlackBerry OS 7 and upcoming devices such as the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930, which were unveiled during May s BlackBerry World conference.

The Bold 9900 features a touch-screen display and physical QWERTY keyboard. While the device s design aesthetic fits in neatly within RIM s broader device portfolio, it failed to excite analysts and mobile experts who expected the company to attempt something more radical. Meanwhile, RIM continues to face substantial competition on a number of fronts, including Apple s new robust messaging service for its iOS mobile devices.

To read the original eWeek article, click here: RIM Quarterly Results: 500,000 BlackBerry PlayBooks Shipped, Layoffs Coming

RIM Revenue Down for Q1, 500,000 Playbooks Shipped

Channel Insider Staff

Recommended for you...

Company

Categories