RIM Will Bounce Back From BlackBerry Subscriber Dip
But the rare slip for the powerful Canadian smartphone maker won't last, as the company has a host of hot new smartphones up its sleeve to unleash on the gadget-hungry BlackBerry faithful this summer and throughout the year.
In an earnings call this week, RIM said 3.8 million new BlackBerry subscriber accounts were opened in the first quarter, down from the 3.9 million accounts the quarter before. It's only the second time in RIM's history that its quarter-to-quarter subscriber growth has dropped.
Additionally, RIM's shipments of BlackBerry smartphones flattened, with 7.8 million shipped in the first quarter, roughly the same as in the fourth quarter.
Many industry watchers are blaming the stagnant subscriber and shipment numbers on competition from rivals such as the Apple iPhone (Apple this week released the Apple iPhone 3G S) and the Palm Pre, the two new touch-screen titans.
Despite seeing subscriber numbers and smartphone shipments level off, RIM reported $3.42 billion in revenue for the first quarter, up 52 percent from the $2.24 billion of last year's first quarter. Additionally, RIM's net profit was up from $482.5 million last year to $643 million in the first quarter. RIM also said it has a total of 28.5 million BlackBerry subscribers.
RIM expects to rebound in the second quarter, forecasting it will add between 3.8 million and 4.1 million new subscribers and see revenue of between $3.45 billion and $3.70 billion.
RIM is hanging its hat on a host of hot new smartphones it plans to release throughout the year, including the just-announced BlackBerry Tour and the upcoming BlackBerry Gemini and BlackBerry Niagara.
RIM also is expected to release the next generation of its first-ever touch-screen BlackBerry smartphone, the BlackBerry Storm. The BlackBerry Storm 2 is expected sometime within the next six months and likely will hit the market just in time for the holiday smartphone buying season.