RIM wins permission to sell in China - newspaper

Wed Jul 4 05:38:00 2007

OTTAWA, July 4 (Reuters) - Research In Motion Ltd. RIM.TO (RIMM) has won permission to sell its BlackBerry device in China after eight years of effort, the Globe and Mail newspaper said on Wednesday. After several delays, the Canadian technology company won approval last month from the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry to sell its handsets, the newspaper said.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company expects to start selling its 8700g handset in Chinese shops at the end of next month, a manager in RIM's Beijing office is quoted in the story as saying.

The manager said the company has received nearly 5,000 advance orders for the device, mainly from corporate customers, and notably foreign multinationals with offices in China.

The report also said RIM is considering a plan to manufacture devices in China.

The company, which currently sells BlackBerrys in Japan, South Korea, and India, is flying high on its recent results and outlook, including a 76.5 percent jump in quarterly sales, and forecasts of strong subscriber growth.