RIM posts $518m loss as BlackBerry 10 launch delayed until 2013

Research in Motion (RIM) continued its run of poor financial results Thursday, posting yet posting a whopping $518m loss for its latest quarter.

The company said that over the first quarter of its fiscal year, revenues were down some 43 per cent over the same period last year. 

The $518m loss represent a steep decline for RIM over last year's financial quarter, in which its profits hit $695m.

RIM had previously warned that it would be enduring financial hardship in the near future as the company looks to consolidate its operations and begin a turnaround under new chief executive Thorston Heins.

Further adding to RIM's woes was confirmation that the platform intended to revive company fortunes was being delayed. The company said that the BlackBerry 10 platform, originally slated to arrive late this year, would be delayed until at least early 2013.

"Over the past several weeks, RIM's software development teams have made major progress in the development of key features for the BlackBerry 10 platform," the company said.

"However, the integration of these features and the associated large volume of code into the platform has proven to be more time consuming than anticipated."

RIM is counting on the launch of Blackberry 10 to help spark its turnaround. The company is hoping that the platform will finally provide it with a strong competitor to Android and iOS devices which continue to devour RIM's market share.

"I am not satisfied with these results and continue to work aggressively with all areas of the organisation and the board to implement meaningful changes to address the challenges, including a thoughtful realignment of resources and honing focus within the company on areas that have the greatest opportunities," said chief executive Thorsten Heins.

"Our top priority going forward is the successful launch of our first BlackBerry 10 device, which we now anticipate will occur in the first quarter of calendar 2013."