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BlackBerry Continues To Fuel RIM's Success Despite Growing Scrutiny

Research in Motion (RIM), the company that makes the BlackBerry smartphone platform, continues to grow its revenue and subscriber base, despite ever-growing competition from across the wireless industry. Then why did the market slap it so hard?

To put it mildly, RIM's last quarter rocked. The company reported $930.4 million in revenue, up 66% from the same quarter last year. RIM also posted a quarterly profit of $187.9 million. And here is the revenue breakdown: 73% from smartphones, 19% from services, 5% from software, and 3% from other sources. RIM added 1.2 million new BlackBerry subscribers last quarter, bringing its global subscriber base to 8 million.

RIM ended its fiscal year with revenue of $3 billion, up 47% from $2.1 billion last year.

Despite the amazing results, RIM's shares took a beating this week. The market was upset that RIM's earnings were slightly below projections. Also, RIM continues to face regulatory scrutiny in both the U.S. and Canada. And RIM's projections for 2008 are not as strong as many expected.

Yet, the BlackBerry marches on, gaining more subscribers and market share. Why does RIM continue to post such impressive results -- even in the face of a tepid stock market -- while the rest of the mobile e-mail market just sits there? That's because RIM continues to focus mercilessly on its mobile e-mail experience. So long as RIM continues to do this -- and its competitors don't -- the BlackBerry will continue to be a success.

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