RIM Doubles Profits on Strong Results

In the midst of increased competition from the iPhone, BlackBerry maker RIM posted a higher than expected profit and strong subscriber numbers.

Some analysts had predicted that the release of the iPhone might have a negative impact on RIM's overall business. However, at least for now the company is doing well in spite of those concerns.

RIM reported a profit of $287.7 million, double of the same quarter last year. Additionally, it added 1.45 million new subscribers in the three months ending September 1, better than the company had forecasted in June.

The company is also confident that its good fortunes will last into the third quarter, forecasting 1.65 million new net subscribers and revenue of around $1.6 billion, both higher than Wall Street expectations.

"RIM's second quarter results were exceptionally strong on all metrics including revenue, subscriber account additions and net income," said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at RIM. "This growth is fueled by the depth of the BlackBerry product portfolio and the continued diversification of our business across market segments and geographies."

Balsillie has spearheaded an effort to move the Blackberry beyond its typical business-centric customer base and onto the general public at large. So far, that seems to be a success: more consumer-oriented models such as the Pearl are selling quite well.

This is evidenced by the fact that for the first time in the company's history, a majority of the quarter's new customers came from non-corporate accounts.

In addition, it will unveil a new service called Blackberry Unite, which it will provide free to subscribers. The application allows groups of users to share calendars and documents wirelessly.

"With over ten million BlackBerry subscriber accounts and over twenty million handsets shipped, we are pleased with our position in the market today and we expect recent product and market initiatives to extend our business momentum through the remainder of the fiscal year, Balsillie said.