RIM Q3 2012: revenue down 5 percent, 150k PlayBooks shipped

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RIM has released its Q3 2012 financial report and the numbers are just what RIM predicted they would be. Revenue is down year over year, and though the company shipped a high number of BlackBerry smartphones, things aren't very promising for the next quarter.

RIM's revenues for Q3 2012 were $5.2 billion, down 5 percent from the $5.5 billion it brought in the previous year. Net income was down as well, settling at $265 million compared to the $911 million from last year. RIM attributed the loss of income to the previously-announced charge it would be taking on unused PlayBook inventory.

Looking at devices, RIM shipped 14.1 million BlackBerry smartphones in Q3, an increase of 33 percent over Q2. BlackBerry PlayBook shipments remained low at a meager 150,000. Though the company shipped a large number of smartphones in Q3, it doesn't expect to do so in Q4, as RIM reiterated its predictions from earlier this month that it expects to only ship between 11 and 12 million smartphones in Q4. The decline is attributed to the large amount of stock left in the channel - or still sitting on store shelves, in normal language.

Not all of the report was negative, however, as RIM did say that subscribers of its BlackBerry service are up 35 percent year over year, at 75 million total. RIM will be hosting an investor call this evening, and we will be listening in for any further revelations.