RIM’sannus horribilis continued in its fiscal third quarter 2012 – running to November 26 -, with profit down $646 million year-on-year due to costs associated with a service outage.
The Canadian vendor generated net income of $211 million during the quarter as revenue dipped 6% year-on-year to $5.5 billion on the back of higher costs relating to the service outage and a hit on sales of its PlayBook tablet. Figures for the nine months to end-November are equally grim, with net income cut in half to $1.2 billion.
While co-chiefs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis attempted to paper over the cracks by talking up subscriber growth during the quarter, even they concede the firm is struggling to execute, in terms of launching new products and boosting the coffers. “It may take some time to realize the benefits of these efforts and the platform transition that we are undertaking,” they state.
A subsequent conference call saw the firm push back the launch of smartphones based on its next-generation BlackBerry 10 operating system from fiscal 4Q to the back-half of 2010. That outlook, combined with earnings forecasts that fall below analyst’s predictions, caused a slide in the firm’s share price, Bloomberg reports.