Research in Motion sold 7.4 million BlackBerry phones and 130,000...

Research in Motion sold 7.4 million BlackBerry phones and 130,000 Playbook tablets during Q2, RIM executives said on a quarterly earnings call Thursday. RIM’s BlackBerry sales beat Wells Fargo’s estimate of 6.7 million, but was still down from the 7.8 million phones sold during Q1. RIM’s Playbook sales figure was below Wells Fargo’s estimate of 200,000 and was down from sales of 260,000 during Q1. The U.S. represented a smaller portion of RIM sales during Q2 -- 22 percent, down from 25 percent during the previous quarter, RIM Chief Financial Officer Brian Bidulka said during the investor call. RIM had more success abroad, particularly in Canada, the U.K., Indonesia, South Africa and Venezuela, he said. The company has found its free BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) program to be a selling point in developing countries, Heins said. “It’s amazing when you go into those countries and you see how BBM is just kicking it,” he said. “I mean, it’s everywhere.” The company had a Q2 net loss of $235 million, vs. profit of $329 million in the year-ago quarter. RIM’s BlackBerry 10 operating system remains on track to debut in early 2013, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins said during the call. Much of the growth in RIM’s subscriber base has developed in “entry-level” markets, where BlackBerry 7-capable devices are the norm, he said. While BlackBerry 10 will not immediately reach those customers after it goes on the market, Heins said BlackBerry 10-capable devices might reach the entry-level markets within the next year. RIM’s results were “better than feared” for the quarter, Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche said in a report Friday, but the company still expects a net loss in Q3. “We expect [RIM’s] business to continue to be under pressure during the rest of the year due to competitive launches and [RIM’s] lack of a competitive high-end smartphone,” she said. RIM shares closed 5 percent higher Friday to $7.50.