RIM has reported a 40% increase in both revenue and BlackBerry shipments in Q3 and predicted strong Q4 growth, despite the growing pressures on its market share.
Net profit grew 12.5% to $911.1 million, or $1.74 per share.
The company said it had shipped a record 14.2 million smartphones during the quarter ended in November, and added around 5.1 million new BlackBerry accounts.
The total BlackBerry customer base hit 55 million at the end of the quarter. This compares to 36 million in Q3 of 2009, when 4.4 million new accounts were added.
In an earnings call, RIM said it benefited from a more even global distribution of sales during the quarter.
RIM gave an upbeat outlook for its fourth quarter. The company is predicting revenue of between $5.5 billion and $5.7 billion – up from $4.08 billion a year ago - and earnings per share of up to $1.80, compared to $1.27.
But despite RIM's strong earnings and estimates, data compiled by Gartner suggests the company is still bleeding market share to platforms including Android.
Its share of smartphone sales fell nearly six percentage points year-on-year to 14.8% in the third quarter, Gartner said.
Apple's iOS overtook the BlackBerry in North America as the second most popular platform behind Android, Gartner added. Total global smartphone sales also increased 96%, more than twice RIM's 40% sales growth.
RIM separately announced that it appointed its co-CEOs, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, as co-chairmen of the board.
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