RIM is in big trouble

RIM JOB: Enjoy your BlackBerries while you can, boys and girls—your thumbs may be idle in the not-too-distant future. The crisis at BlackBerry maker Research In Motion showed no sign of lifting Thursday, as the embattled Canadian company said a long-awaited product revamp would be delayed until late 2012. RIM’s weak earnings pushed its stock to new seven-year lows in after-hours trading, raising fresh questions about how the company can survive against relentless competition from the iPhone and Android, the Wall Street Journal warned. The company has been beset by operational and performance stumbles this year, including profit warnings, delayed product launches and a three-day network outage in October. RIM’s fiscal third-quarter earnings tumbled 71% on a charge related to the disastrous launch of the PlayBook tablet, and it sharply trimmed its Q4 forecast for BlackBerry deliveries to between 11 million and 12 million, down from 14.9 million in the same period a year ago. The share price that has fallen nearly 75% this year. RIM once dominated the U.S. smartphone market, but is now down to about 10%. (12/16a)