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Research In Motion Ltd., based in Waterloo, Ont., posted fourth quarter earnings of $710.1 million US, or $1.27 per diluted share, Wednesday.
That was up from $518.3 million or 90 cents per diluted share a year ago.
RIM was expected to earn $1.28 a share, according to the analysts' consensus published by Thomson Reuters.
The maker of the BlackBerry keeps its books in U.S. dollars. Revenue in the quarter totalled $4.08 billion, up from $3.46 billion, a disappointment for many analysts who had predicted $4.31 billion for the December to February period.
RIM's BlackBerry remains the communication device of choice in North America's business community.
In 2009, the Canadian company held a 49 per cent share of the Canadian, U.S. and Mexican mobile device market. That's more than double the 23 per cent held by Apple's iPhone according to Canalys, a U.K. technology firm.
In addition, RIM is experiencing strong growth in foreign markets, such as Latin America and Indonesia.
Trouble on the horizon?
Many experts believe RIM has focused too much on the lucrative business market at the expense of the growing consumer sector.
By contrast, the iPhone and other mobile products have increased the number of applications, especially for younger consumers, available on their devices.
As a result, the newer products are becoming more popular among younger users, a potential source of growth, experts noted.
Trefis figured that the number of iPhones sold has jumped to 25 million in 2009, up from 3.7 million two years earlier.
As well, the group now expects iPhone application downloads to reach 2.2 billion in 2009.
In addition, the rising popularity of newer mobile phones could eat into the BlackBerry's market share.
Canalys now predicts RIM's North American market share will slide to 43 per cent in 2010.
By contrast, Google's Android device will almost double its percentage of the three-country mobile pie, to 18.9 per cent in 2010, up from 9.7 per cent one year earlier.
CBC News
