Research In Motion saw its quarterly earnings jump 45 percent on record BlackBerry shipments.
The Canada-based company, which has hoped its new touchscreen BlackBerry Torch would improve sales, said it shipped 14.2 million devices in the most recent quarter, for a total of $5.49 billion in revenue. That marked a 40 percent increase over a year ago. The improvement pushed RIM’s profits to $911.1 million, up from $628.4 million.
Still, RIM faces serious competition from the Apple Inc. iPhone and the myriad smartphones running Google Inc.’s Android operating system. Indeed, AT&T – the exclusive carrier for the BlackBerry Torch until February – has slashed the device’s price in half in efforts to sell more inventory. RIM next is counting on new versions of the BlackBerry Bold and Torch – which comes with a slide-out keyboard and better Internet browser, according to reports – will appeal to would-be iPhone users.
RIM also is ramping up its focus on markets outside of North America. For example, it’s offering cheaper BlackBerry models, such as the Curve, in countries such as Brazil and Indonesia and providing free features including instant messaging.
Shares of RIM had moved up 1.96 percent to $60.40 in after-hours trading.