RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie has hit back at Apple chief Steve Jobs, accusing him of distorting facts and misrepresenting BlackBerry sales figures.
Balsillie disputes Jobs claims that Apple shipped more devices during calendar 3Q, noting that the comparison is not oranges-for-oranges because RIM reported quarterly results to end-August, meaning shipment figures don’t include the seasonally strong month of September.
He said Apple’s figures could have been padded out by including unfulfilled 3Q customer orders, and reiterated RIM’s forecast of shipping 13.8 to 14.4 million units in its current quarter.
“RIM has achieved record shipments for five consecutive quarters,” Balsillie noted in an e-mailed statement.
Jobs lauded Apple’s 14.1 million device shipments during calendar 3Q – his firm’s fiscal 4Q – noting they were higher than the 12.1 million RIM shipped in its most recent quarter.
Balsillie also blasted Jobs’ claims that a wave of 7-inch tablet PCs would be “dead on arrival.”
“For those of us who live outside of Apple’s distortion field, we know that 7” tablets will actually be a big portion of the market,” Balsillie said.
RIM’s recently unveiled PlayBook tablet runs a 7-inch display.
The RIM chief said Apple’s decision to exclude Flash from its iOS software goes against the wishes of developers, who he claims “want more options,” while consumers “want to fully access the overwhelming majority of web sites that use Flash.”
Balsillie said it was only a matter of time before consumer patience runs out. “We think many customers are getting tired of being told what to think by Apple.”
Meanwhile, Google’s engineering vice president Andy Rubin yesterday published what appears to be a response to Jobs comments about fragmentation of the Android platform.
Rubin issued the source code needed to begin developing a version of Android on a Linux PC via Twitter, in a bid to demonstrate that anyone can access the platform.