Pearl shines to deliver bumper RIM profits

RIM's BlackBerry Pearl has helped the firm to boost revenues by 34 per cent

Strong sales of RIM's consumer-focused BlackBerry Pearl handset have helped boost company profits. 

Revenues in the second quarter of 2006 totalled $659m (£352m), a rise of 34 per cent compared with the same period last year.

The Pearl has already launched in the US, and RIM claimed that its network partners around the world are eager to launch in their own territories.

"The response to the product has been exceptional and the net subscriber account additions at T-Mobile in the weeks following the launch were significantly higher than we had been seeing prior to the Pearl launch," co-chief executive Jim Balsillie told analysts today.

But despite the bumper results and strong future predictions, analyst firm IDC warned that a tough challenge from Nokia, Motorola and Palm could end RIM's dominance of the smartphone market. 

However, Balsillie rubbished the claims, maintaining that RIM is now in a much stronger position to defend itself.

"Most of these companies have been bringing their best game to this space for over a decade," he said.

"So this kind of competitive reality has been there from the beginning when RIM didn't have anything like the resources and position and capacity and experience that it has today."