Research In Motion posts third quarter fiscal results
updated 05:39 pm EST, Thu December 20, 2012
$2.7 billion in revenue down five percent from previous quarter
Beleaguered BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion today reported its financial results for the quarter ended December 1, beating analyst expectations with an adjusted loss of 22 cents per share. Wall Street prognosticators had expected a loss of 35 cents per share, but RIM's ongoing cost cutting efforts caused the company to outperform expectations with $2.7 billion in revenue and an adjusted net loss of $114 million. The better-than-expected results may give the struggling smartphone maker some breathing room with investors as it prepares to launch its next generation of BlackBerry devices early next year.
Despite the $114 million loss, this quarter's figures represent a solid improvement over the last quarter, when RIM lost $235 million, and a considerable improvement over the quarter before that, when the company lost $518 million.
RIM reported shipping 6.9 million smartphones this past quarter, as well as 255,000 PlayBooks.
Even as the company's losses have slowed quarter to quarter, the most recent results held some troubling indications. For the first time in several quarters, RIM's subscriber base -- which has continued to grow thanks to strong adoption in developing markets -- fell from 80 million at the end of the second quarter to 79 million at the end of this most recent reporting period.
The company noted that the forthcoming release of its first BlackBerry 10 devices could have a negative impact on sales in this quarter as some customers defer purchases in anticipation of the new devices. RIM will also be increasing its marketing spending over this coming quarter in order to support the global launch of BlackBerry 10, and so expects an operating loss for the fourth quarter as well.
