Blackberry maker RIM reports $84mln loss

PanARMENIAN.Net - The maker of Blackberry smartphones, Research in Motion (RIM) has reported a loss of $84 million for the three months ending on June 1.

The figure was an improvement on the $518 million net loss for the same period last year, but was much worse than many analysts had expected.

The Canadian company also announced it will post an operating loss for the next quarter running to September.

RIM shares fell 17% in pre-market trading in New York.

Shipments of new smartphones increased, but RIM did not release how many of new handsets running the BB10 operating system were sold in the quarter.

Analysts had been particular keen to see the numbers for the new Z10 handset, as the quarter was the first full quarter that the handset was on sale in the United States.

RIM only said that it had shipped 6.8 million phones overall in its first quarter versus 7.8 million in the same three month period last year.

Blackberry has been battling against stiff competition in the smartphone sector, and has struggled to compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung.