Research In Motion Limited (RIM) provided an update on forecasted subscriber additions for fiscal Q3 ending November 26, 2005 and fiscal Q4 ending March 4, 2006.

RIM now expects subscriber additions for Q3 to be within a range approximately 8% lower than the previously forecasted range of 680,000 - 710,000 provided by RIM in September. The previous forecast range was based on the expectation that two next-generation BlackBerry(R) handsets would be launched and commercially available in early November. The BlackBerry 8700 Series for EDGE networks and the BlackBerry 7130 Series for EV-DO networks have been widely anticipated by customers; but due to unanticipated launch delays, these new handsets have only become commercially available through business channels this week, and national retail availability is now expected in early December. As a result, many customers delayed purchases in anticipation of the newer products.

While subscriber additions for the months of September and October were in the expected range, these launch delays caused subscriber additions to be lower than expected during the month of November. Given the shift in retail product availability into early December, RIM also believes it is prudent to slightly lower its Q4 forecast range for subscriber additions of 775,000 - 825,000 by approximately 3%.

RIM continues to expect Q3 revenue in the range of $540 - $570 million and does not anticipate any material impact to previous Q4 revenue guidance as a result of these lower levels of subscriber additions.

"While the delay in launch dates for these two highly anticipated products caused a timing shift in expected subscriber additions, the products are becoming available now and will help drive significant growth in the coming quarters," said Jim Balsillie, Chairman and Co-CEO at RIM. "We further entrenched our technology leadership and channel strength in the current quarter and we have grown our subscriber base by over 17% to pass the 4 million subscribers milestone. We intend to remain focused on executing our business plans as we aim to finish our fiscal year by roughly doubling the BlackBerry subscriber base of the previous year."