The volume of shipment was in line with
previous guidance of between 13.5-14.5 million, RIM said in a statement.

However, adjusted revenue in the third
quarter, excluding a charge against revenue of $50 million related to the
service outage that occurred in the quarter, is expected to be slightly lower
than the previously guided range of $5.3-5.6 billion, reflecting product mix
and the impact of PlayBook sell-through programs in the quarter.

The company is still in the process of
finalizing its fourth quarter outlook, and based on preliminary estimates, RIM
expects unit shipments in the fourth quarter to be below third quarter levels.

The lower expected shipments in the fourth
quarter are due to several factors including lower than expected sell-through
in the third quarter and RIM’s current view of fourth quarter demand. The
company no longer expects to meet its full year adjusted diluted earnings per
share guidance of $5.25-6.00.

RIM also announced that it would record a
pre-tax provision in the third quarter of fiscal 2012 of approximately $485
million, $360 million after tax, related to its inventory valuation of
BlackBerry PlayBook tablets.

RIM has a high level of BlackBerry PlayBook
inventory. The company believes that an increase in promotional activity is
required to drive sell-through to end customers. This is due to several
factors, including recent shifts in the competitive dynamics of the tablet
market and a delay in the release of the PlayBook OS 2.0 software.

Based on the positive response to the
promotions that are underway in select markets, RIM believes this strategy will
accelerate adoption of its QNX-based platform by consumers and enterprises, as
well as help to drive the development of a vibrant application ecosystem in
advance of its next generation BlackBerry smartphones.

RIM sold into the channels approximately
150,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets in the third quarter and sell-through to
end customers, based on RIM’s internal data, was higher than this amount.

Since the launch of the new promotions
across consumer and enterprise channels in the United States and Canada late in
the third quarter, the Company has seen a significant increase in demand for
the PlayBook.

Both consumer and enterprise customers who
purchase a new BlackBerry PlayBook at the current promotional pricing, along
with existing PlayBook customers, will be able to upgrade to the enhanced
PlayBook OS 2.0 software at no additional charge when it becomes available in
February 2012.

“RIM is committed to the BlackBerry
PlayBook and believes the tablet market is still in its infancy. Although a
number of factors have led to the need for an inventory provision in the third
quarter, we believe the PlayBook, which will be further enhanced with the
upcoming PlayBook OS 2.0 software, is a compelling tablet for consumers that
also offers unique security and manageability features for the
enterprise,” said Mike Lazaridis, Co-CEO at Research In Motion.

By Telecomlead.com Team
[email protected]