RIM 3rd quarter reports a 59% profit on record BlackBerry sales

More than 80 percent of the Canadian company's new subscribers were non-corporate customers, a sign of the BlackBerry's popularity among consumers amid intense competition from devices such as Apple Inc.'s iPhone, Palm Inc.'s Pre and Motorola Inc.'s Droid.

RIM, which is based in Waterloo, Ontario, said Thursday that it earned US$628.4 million, or US$1.10 per share, in the quarter that ended Nov. 28. That compares with US$396.3 million, or 69 cents per share, in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue was up 41 percent to US$3.92 billion from US$2.78 billion last year.

Shares surged more than 12 percent in after-hours trading.

After initially focusing on corporate customers, RIM has expanded its reach into the consumer market in recent years with such touch-screen models as the BlackBerry Storm. Two years ago, half of RIM's new subscribers were business customers. In the third quarter, they made up less than a fifth.

“The consumer side is growing real fast,” co-Chief Executive Jim Balsillie said on a conference call with analysts. RIM sold more than 10 million BlackBerry phones during the third quarter, beating the previous record of 8.3 million, set during the second quarter.

“This shows that RIM is as popular a device as it's ever been, selling more units than its largest competitor,” said Duncan Stewart, director of research and analysis at DSam Consulting.

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