Research In Motion Ltd. continues to give Wall St. investors headaches.

Shares of the Waterloo, Ont.-based technology company slid more than seven per cent on the Nasdaq index after the BlackBerry-maker revealed a weaker than expected outlook for the current quarter.

RIM said revenue for the third quarter, ended Nov. 26, was $5.17 billion (all figures in U.S. dollars) - a 24-per-cent jump over the $4.2 billion the company generated last quarter, but slightly below analyst expectations of about $5.22 billion. RIM said earnings were $1.27 per adjusted share, slightly ahead of Wall St. estimates of $1.22 per share.

However, for the current quarter, RIM said it expects revenue of between $4.6 billion and $4.9 billion, which was in line with Wall St. expectations of $4.85 billion. RIM said adjusted earnings are expected to be between 80 cents and 95 cents a share, below analyst expectations of $1.08.

RIM said it expects to see between 11 million and 12 million BlackBerry smartphones in the coming quarter, which would mark a decline in sales from Q3.

Net income for the quarter was $265 million, or 51 cents a share diluted. However, adjusted net income was $667 million, or $1.27 a share diluted.

RIM provided shareholders with an update on its third quarter results on Dec. 2, saying the company would take a $485-million pre-tax hit as a result of surplus inventory of unsold BlackBerry Play-Book tablets and that revenue was expected to be "slightly lower" than the previously guided range of between $5.3 billion and $5.6 billion.

In a joint statement, RIM's co-chief executives Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis struck an upbeat chord.

"RIM continues to have strong technology, unique service capabilities and a large installed base of customers, and we are more determined than ever to capitalize on our strengths to overcome the recent execution challenges surrounding product launches and the resulting financial performance," the two said in a statement.

"As part of our commitment to improving our performance to better meet the expectations of shareholders and customers, we continue to evaluate ways to improve in several areas of the company's operations.

"It may take some time to realize the benefits of these efforts and the platform transition that we are undertaking, but we continue to believe that RIM has the right set of strengths and capabilities to maintain a leading role in the mobile communications industry."

Still, analysts seemed largely underwhelmed by the results.

"Q4 guidance was even softer than expected, with Q4 units (sell-in) down 23 per cent Y/Y, which affirms the BlackBerry 7 product cycle is diminishing early, and international momentum is slowing - with BlackBerry 10 launches not coming soon enough to offset," RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky wrote in a note to clients.

RIM said the total number of BlackBerry subscribers grew to 75 million in the quarter, a 35-per-cent jump over the same quarter last year.

RIM's shares have lost more than 70 per cent of their value since the PlayBook debuted in late April and hit a new seven year low - dipping below $15 - earlier this week.

On a positive note, sales of RIM's BlackBerry smartphones appear to have bounced back after the company overhauled its lineup by rolling out 10 new devices running its BlackBerry 7 operating system over the past four months.

As RIM told shareholders on Dec. 2, the company sold about 14.1 million Black-Berry smartphones in the quarter ended Nov. 26.

RIM said the company also took a $50 million charge as a result of the BlackBerry Messenger blackout which prevented millions of users from accessing their emails and data for several days in October after one of RIM's operating centres in Europe was knocked offline.

RIM said that a delay in the release of a crucial software update for the PlayBook and shifts in the marketplace had forced the company to step up its efforts to move its tablets off store shelves and into the hands of consumers.

As a result, retailers across North America have slashed the price of the PlayBook tablet to as low as $199, from an original price of $499.

"RIM is committed to the BlackBerry PlayBook and believes the tablet market is still in its infancy," Lazaridis said in a press release on Dec. 2.

"Although a number of factors have led to the need for an inventory provision in the third quarter, we believe the PlayBook, which will be further enhanced with the upcoming PlayBook OS 2.0 software, is a compelling tablet for consumers that also offers unique security and manageability features for the enterprise."

RIM's PlayBook has struggled to find a niche in the evolving market for touch screen tablets.

Apple Inc.'s iPad remains the most popular tablet on the market and commands the lion's share of the market and revenues, while a collection of devices powered by Google Inc.'s Android software - including the new Kindle Fire from Amazon.com Inc. - are outselling RIM's Play-Book.

Indeed, RIM has sold only about 850,000 PlayBooks since the device went on sale in April. While sales topped 500,000 in Q1, RIM sold only 200,000 tablets in Q2, declining to just 150,000 in Q3.

Shares of RIM plunged as much as 18 per cent on the Nasdaq on Sept. 15, after the company reported secondquarter revenue, earnings, BlackBerry sales and Play-Book shipments which all fell short of Wall St. expectations. In Q2, RIM said it sold 10.6 million BlackBerry devices, marking the first time in RIM's storied history that BlackBerry sales fell year over year, and the second consecutive quarter that sales of the company's smartphones dropped.