Thursday, September 15, 2011, 06:06 pm

RIM ships 10.6 million BlackBerry phones, just 200,000 PlayBooks

By Daniel Eran Dilger

Research in Motion reported disappointing earnings for its most recent quarter, announcing that profits has slipped 47 percent while it shipped just 10.6 million smartphones only 200,000 PlayBook tablets.

The Canadian smartphone maker was expected to ship 11 to 12 million BlackBerry phones and between 400,000 and 600,000 PlayBooks, putting its actual figures into dismal territory.

RIM also spent much of its cash, ending the quarter with just $1.4 billion after entering it with $2.9 billion. The company contributed $780 million toward the purchase of Nortel patents, acting in the consortium that included also Apple, Microsoft and Sony.

In contrast, Apple sold 20.34 million iPhones and 9.25 million iPads its its most recent quarter, although the two company's fiscal quarters cover slightly different periods.