RIM says subscriber base grows to 80 million

NEW HOPE: RIM offered investors a ray of hope by announcing an unexpected jump in subscriber numbers that sent its shares up 5%, even as the embattled BlackBerry maker worked hard to drum up enthusiasm for its new BB10 devices. — Reuters

SAN JOSE (California): Research in Motion (RIM) offered investors a ray of hope by announcing an unexpected jump in subscriber numbers that sent its shares up 5%, even as the embattled BlackBerry maker worked hard to drum up enthusiasm for its new BB10 devices.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM, once a pioneer in the smartphone arena, has rapidly lost market share in North America to Apple’s snazzier iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy devices.