RIM Sell 11.2M BlackBerry Phones in Q1, Hint 2 New BlackBerry Phones Coming Before August

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RIM have officially confirmed that sales figures for BlackBerry phones in Q1 came in at 11.2 million handsets which equates to a 19.4% market share and which, thanks to falling on the low side of RIM’s sales projections, saw RIM’s shares fall nearly 5% on Tuesday. But it looks like RIM is set to hit out against the likes of the Apple iPhone 4 and Motorola Droid X with two new high-end devices that are slated to hit the streets prior to August.

The new high-end BlackBerry devices, though not detailed, were hinted at during a conference following the release of Q1 sales figures and, whilst RIM offered no actual information concerning these devices they did state that they envisaged these new high-end devices would contribute to its summer quarter sales figures (which confirms that the new devices will see the light of day prior to August).

Interestingly, whilst RIM’s BlackBerry sales figures were seen as ‘disappointing’ (according to the FT) the fact that RIM sold 11.2 million devices actually sees an increase in sales of 43% when compared with sales figures a year ago – so, though sales figures in Q1 were at the lower end of its projections (RIM expected sales figures of between 11.2m and 11.8m in Q1) it’s not all bad news regardless of its market share dropping from 20.6% a year ago to the aforementioned present 19.4%.

Of course, RIM are wholly aware of the undoubted impact of the likes of the new iPhone 4 and Motorola Droid X on the market and its thought that the two new high-end devices they’ve confirmed will see release prior to August will serve as RIM’s attempt to counter Apple and Motorola’s high end smartphones in a bid to ensure that their market share falls no further if not increases.