RIM Reports Blackberry Record Sales amid Intense Competition

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion has just posted better than expected results for the latest fiscal quarter with excellent smartphone sales and subscriber additions, even in the face of fierce competition from Apple and Google.

The Canadian based company reported earnings of $628.4 million for the third quarter of fiscal year 2010, representing a 32 percent increase on the second quarter and a 59 percent jump on the year-ago period. Its revenue amounted to $3.92 billion, up 11 percent from the last quarter and 41 percent from last year.

The strong performance is boosted by the shipments of over 10 million BlackBerry devices, which beat the previous sales record of 8.3 million sets in the second quarter. RIM managed to add 4.4 million new subscribers, bringing its subscriber base to 36 million at the end of the third quarter.

According to the smartphone manufacturer, more than 80 percent of its new subscribers were consumers. This proves the success of its strategy of expanding beyond corporate customers to the consumer market. Touchscreen handsets like the BlackBerry Storm 2, which joined the company’s lineup in late October, has gained popularity among non-corporate users. Other models like the Bold 9700 and the Tour 9630 have also received positive feedback and generated satisfactory sales.

In spite of the fierce attack by Apple’s iPhone and the rapidly growing Android devices, like Motorola DROID, RIM’s third quarter performance shows that it is strong enough to hold its own in the business market and expand further. A new report from comScore revealed that BlackBerry still has around 40 percent share of the US smartphone market, way ahead of the 25 percent share of its biggest rival, iPhone.

The company expects continuous growth in the coming quarter and is confident about its future, which means BlackBerry won’t be giving up its top spot in the smartphone category anytime soon.

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