RIM Delays Launch of Next-Gen Smartphone 'London': Analyst

Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:RIMM) is said to have delayed the launch of its first BlackBerry 10 OS-run London smartphone by at least 3 months.

Based on our checks, London smartphone (BBX all-touch screen device originally slated for March launch) is now looking like a Jun-Aug launch, Jefferies analyst Peter Misek wrote in a note to clients.

The analyst also noted that sales trends have been weakening at RIM and would not be surprised to see sell through down to 12 million.

According to the brokerage's survey of carriers and retailers, Blackberry is most likely to be the third ecosystem behind iOS and Android but that is highly dependent on BBX (now BlackBerry 10 OS) phones. If the launch is botched or initial devices prove lackluster, then Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) has a real opportunity with its Windows Phone 7 operating system.

RIM, which is known for its BlackBerry smartphones, is currently going through a rough patch as it has been slow to counter competition from Apple's iPhone and handsets powered by Google's Android operating system.

It is betting heavily on its next-generation smartphones and tablets that will be running BBX, which combines the best of its older BlackBerry operating system and next-generation QNX software. RIM's PlayBook runs on the QNX perating system

In a related development, RIM has changed the name of its next-generation operating system BBX to BlackBerry 10 OS, following a copyright lawsuit by software firm Basis International, which won a successful restraining order to stop RIM from using BBX specifically for the DevCon Asia 2011 conference.