RIM claims smartphone top spot in latest results

Results

Research In Motion (RIM) is not ready to throw in the towel to Apple's iPhone yet as it claims to have been the number one selling smartphone brand in the US last year.

Today saw the BlackBerry manufacturer release both its year-end and fourth quarter results with impressive figures.

Revenue for the firm grew by 35 per cent from fiscal year 2008 to 2009, amounting to just under $15 billion (9.85 billion), and sequential growth was up four per cent to $4.08 billion.

The company's main joy came from the 37 million smartphone shipments in 2009 - up 40 per cent from the previous fiscal year.

"We managed to significantly expand our international market share while also maintaining our longstanding leadership in North America where BlackBerry continues to be the top selling smartphone brand," said Jim Balsillie, co-chief executive at RIM, in a statement.

"We are off to a great start in fiscal 2011 and expect strong shipments, revenue, subscriber and earnings growth in [the first quarter]."

Along with the rise in smartphone shipments, the BlackBerry subscriber account base grew by 65 per cent over the year to 41 million, with 4.9 million accounts added in the fourth quarter alone.

The company has predicted growth to continue with forecasted revenue for the next quarter between $4.25 billion and $4.45 billion.

Jennifer Scott

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.