NEW
YORK (AP) — Research in Motion Ltd. posted
another large quarterly loss and
its BlackBerrysmartphone shipments shrunk 30
percent. Investors, expecting even worse, were relieved and sent the company's
shares up 16 percent in premarket trading Friday. But analysts cautioned that RIM is
still struggling in the increasingly competitive mobile market.
RIM shipped
7.4 million BlackBerry smartphones in its fiscal second quarter, down from 10.6
million in the same three months a year ago. The Canadian company is losing
market share in North America, where Apple's iPhone and phones that run
Google's Android software are increasingly dominant. But it has stepped up
sales in developing markets and actually increased its subscriber base and cash
position.
Its loss in
the quarter ended Sept. 1 came to $235 million, or 45 cents per U.S. share.
Revenue totaled $2.9 billion.
Analysts
polled by FactSet expected worse: A loss of 47 cents on revenue of $2.49
billion.
But
investors' temporary relief does not imply that all is well for the
once-pioneering smartphone maker. Shares, up $1.16 at $8.30 Friday before the
bell, remain a far cry from the company's heyday. The stock fetched nearly $150
in June 2008.
Yes, RIM
boosted its cash balance, but its core operations are still losing money, said
Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu. And he remains concerned that the company's
upcoming BlackBerry 10 platform will not be able to compete well against
iPhones and Android phones.
The company
said Thursday that the BlackBerry 10 remains on track to be released in the
first quarter of 2013. It is banking its future on the much-delayed upgrade,
meant to offer the multimedia, Internet browsing and apps that users now
demand.
And the
better-than-expected quarter was largely the result of promotions and phone
upgrade programs, which ultimately reduced the average amount of revenue the
company generated from each of its customers, said Jefferies analyst Peter
Misek. That doesn't bode well for the future.
"All
hope is on BlackBerry 10. We won't know success or failure until next
summer," he added.
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