RIM profits collapse; India controls inflation

Canadian BlackBerry maker, Research in Motion, saw its share plummet almost 20 percent Friday after it announced it had missed its earnings target for the third consecutive quarter. Profits decreased sharply by 47 percent for 2Q11 to $497m from $797m year-on-year, while revenue dropped by ten percent to $4.17bn in the three months to August 27.

Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO, spoke of a positive outlook for the next quarter. He said: “Overall unit shipments in the quarter were slightly below our forecast due to lower than expected demand for older models. We successfully launched a range of BlackBerry 7 smartphones around the world during the latter part of the second quarter and we are seeing strong sell-through and customer interest for these new products.”

India’s central bank increased interest rates on Friday for the 12th time since the beginning of March 2010 to tame inflation which stood at a 13-month high of 9.78 percent in August.

The Reserve Bank of India in response raised its repurchase rate, also referred to as the repo rate, by 0.25 percent to 8.25 percent. The bank said that slower growth will be the cost of controlling inflation.

“The global macroeconomic outlook has worsened. There is growing consensus that sluggishness will persist longer than earlier expected. Concerns over the sovereign debt problem in the euro area have added further uncertainty to the prospects of recovery,” the bank said in a statement.