RIM U.S. Sales Cut in Half Last Quarter as Consumers Defect to Iphones

By Hugo Miller - Sep 21, 2011 3:09 AM GMT+0700
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The new Blackberry Torch 9800 smartphone is seen after being unveiled at a news conference August 3, 2010 in New York City. Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM)’s sales in the U.S. fell by 50 percent last quarter, dragging total revenue lower, as American consumers abandoned older BlackBerry phone models for Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhones.

Revenue from the U.S. dropped to $1.11 billion from $2.22 billion a year earlier, overshadowing gains in Canada and other markets, according to a filing released yesterday after the company reported earnings last week.

RIM plunged 19 percent on Sept. 16 after reporting fiscal second-quarter profit and sales that missed analysts’ estimates. Stung by customer defections to the iPhone and handsets that run on Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android platform, RIM’s share of the global smartphone market dropped to 12 percent in last quarter from 19 percent a year earlier, according to Gartner Inc.

U.K. sales fell 2.3 percent to $419 million, according to the filing. Sales in Canada climbed 7.7 percent to $308 million and sales outside the U.S., Canada and the U.K. jumped 38 percent to $2.33 billion.

RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, fell 99 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $22.73 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The stock has dropped 61 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hugo Miller in Toronto at hugomiller@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net