Blackberry Storm Boosts RIM's Results

Stock Surges Almost 23% as 26 Million Devices Shipped in FY09

Published:03-April-2009
By Steve Evans - Computer Business Review

Research in Motion (RIM) has revealed revenue for fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 of $3.46bn (£2.33bn), up 84% year on year. Net income for the quarter stood at $518.3m (£350m), up from $412.5m (£278m) the previous year.

Revenue for the financial year ended February 28, 2009 was $11.07bn (£7.45bn), up 84% from $6.01bn (£4.06bn) the previous year. Net income for the year came in at $1.89bn (£1.27bn), a 46.3% increase from the previous financial year.

During FY09 Q4, RIM shipped about 7.8 million devices while about 26 million were shipped during the financial year, boosted no doubt by the release of the BlackBerry Storm, RIM’s first touchscreen smartphone, released in October 2008 in direct competition to Apple’s iPhone.

The Storm has certainly impacted on RIM’s financial results. Approximately 83% of revenue generated during the quarter was from devices, 12% was through services, 2% came from software and the remainder from other means.

The company also added 3.9 million new accounts during the quarter and its subscriber base now stands at roughly 25 million.

Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at RIM, said: “We are very pleased to report another record quarter with standout subscriber growth that speaks volumes about the early success and momentum of our new BlackBerry products.

“RIM experienced an extraordinary year in fiscal 2009, shipping our 50 millionth BlackBerry smartphone and generating $11bn in revenue. Looking ahead into fiscal 2010, we see exceptional opportunities for RIM and its partners to leverage the investments and success of the past year to continue growing market share and profitability.”

Guidance for FY10 Q1 suggested revenue in the region of $3.3-$3.5bn

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• The Eye of the (BlackBerry) Storm (Arik Hesseldahl/Business Week) (techmeme.com)
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