Research in Motion: Not dead yet, but can it dance and sing?

Despite widespread speculation that the BlackBerry is on its way out, Research in Motion yesterday reported quarterly profits that beat analysts' expectations, and the company said it expects a strong third quarter.

RIM's stock has taken a beating this year, losing more than 30 percent as the BlackBerry maker faced tough competition from Apple's iPhone and the many phones that run on Google's Android.

Despite that, RIM posted strong second quarter results, shipping a record 12.1 million BlackBerry smartphones, up 45 percent compared to the same period last year. RIM's subscriber base grew 56 percent to over 50 million users.

RIM said it expects its third quarter EPS to range between $1.60-$1.70, ahead of analyst expectations of $1.39 per share, on revenue of $5.30 billion-$5.55 billion, above the $4.8 billion that analysts were forecasting.

RIM reported net income of $796.7 million, or $1.46 per share, in its second quarter, compared to $475.6 million, or 83 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. Analysts were expecting $1.34 per share, according to Thomson Reuters estimates. Revenue grew 31 percent to $4.62 billion, beating analyst expectations of $4.5 billion.