RIM ships 10.6 million smartphones, 200,000 PlayBook tablets in Q2 2012

During Q2, RIM shipped 10.6 million BlackBerry smartphones, a drop from the 14 million it shipped the previous quarter. Shipments of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet were less than half of the previous quarter’s anemic amount at only 200,000. Revenue was $4.2 billion, 15 percent lower than Q1′s $4.9 billion, and 10 percent down from the previous year. Net income was just $329 million, compared to $695 million in Q1, and $797 million the year prior. RIM chief Jim Balsillie blames the poor performance on less-than-expected demand for its older BlackBerry models. “We successfully launched a range of BlackBerry 7 smartphones around the world during the latter part of the second quarter and we are seeing strong sell-through and customer interest for these new products. Overall unit shipments in the quarter were slightly below our forecast due to lower than expected demand for older models,” said Balsillie.