RIM Warns Sluggish Third Quarter Over BlackBerry Mobile

Research In Motion reports that sales and earnings for its third quarter will be lower than expected. RIM primarily puts blame on launch date changes for its BlackBerry mobile devices and the slowing economy.

Research In Motion Ltd announced on Tuesday that it will miss third quarter estimates. RIM primarily puts blame on launch date changes for its BlackBerry mobile phones as well as the slowing economy.

Verizon Wireless debuted the BlackBerry Storm late in the third quarter. RIM projected 2.9 million new BlackBerry accounts for its mobile devices. The company now expects 2.6 million.

RIM expects its earnings per share and gross margins to be lower due to the number of new BlackBerry accounts. The new subscribers only represent a subset of the total number of BlackBerries sold. It also reflects the relative growth of RIM's overall user base.

Despite the third quarter bad news, RIM remains optimistic for its current quarter which ends in February. The company said that it generated record level sales from its November 21 BlackBerry Storm debut.

The BlackBerry Storm touch screen is still sold out at many Verizon Wireless locations. RIM says that there is opportunity to grow its BlackBerry line of products.