BlackBerry maker RIM lowers outlook

Canada's Research In Motion (RIM) lowered its earnings outlook on Thursday on weaker BlackBerry sales, sending its share price sharply lower in after-hours trading. The Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM said that it expects earnings per share of $1.30-$1.37 in the quarter ending May 28, lower than the $1.47-$1.55 forecast just a month ago. "This shortfall is primarily due to shipment volumes of BlackBerry smartphones that are now expected to be at the lower end of the range of 13.5-14.5 million forecasted in March and a shift in the expected mix of devices shipped towards handsets with lower average selling prices," RIM said. RIM said it expected revenue for the quarter slightly below the $5.2 billion to $5.6 billion forecast on March 24. RIM shares were down 8.46 percent at $51.50 in after-hours trading. RIM also said it expected shipments of its new iPad rival, the BlackBerry PlayBook, to be "in line with our previous expectations" but did not provide any figures. The Blackberry maker said it has not experienced any significant supply disruptions due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.