RIM Cuts Profit Forecast for FY 2012 [RIM To Sell Less BlackBerry Smartphones Than Expected & Has to Reduce Profit Forecast; But PlayBook is Playing Nice]

Posted on TFTS by J. Angelo Racoma on Saturday, 30. April 2011 under: Mobile/Cell Phones, PCs, Notebooks, Netbooks & Tablets

It’s going to be a sad year for RIM–or, at least not as happy as they’d want to be before their business year started. The BlackBerry maker has had to reduce its profit forecast due to poor smartphone sales.

Canada-based Research in Motion has reduced its profit forecast for fiscal year, citing poor performance of its smartphone sales in the year’s first quarter. The company previously forecast that it will ship 13.5 to 14.5 million smartphone units throughout the first quarter of FY 2012 (which ended May 28, 2011), but the actual number is actually lower (or at least closer to the lower figure).

Perhaps the silver lining for RIM is the performance of the BlackBerry PlayBook, which it says is at par with expectations. RIM is also set to launch new smartphones this May, which might help boost the brand’s popularity and profitability. We’ll find out how well RIM will handle things at BlackBerry World this coming week.