BlackBerry's Torch fails to set the world alight
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) has posted a surge in quarterly profit and revenue, however things don’t look so good for next quarter revenues as it fails to add as many subscribers as it expected.
RIM said it shipped 12.1 million devices to wireless carriers and stores in its fiscal second quarter, up 45% from a year ago. But the company added 4.5 million net new BlackBerry subscribers in the quarter, down from 4.9 million in the preceding quarter. It had expected to add between 4.9 million to 5.2 million accounts in the period.
Co-CEO Jim Balsillie said subscriber growth was hurt by competing products entering the market around the same time as its new BlackBerry Torch and by weakness in Middle East markets due to concerns service could be interrupted due to disputes with governments over security issues.
Elsewhere, on the eve of the iPad going on sale in China, Best Buy’s Chief Executive Brian Dunn admits iPad has cannibalised sales from laptop PCs by as much as 50%, and has announced that they will start to stock the iPad across it’s US stores as Best Buy converts from a white goods store to a mobile gadget store
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