June 25 (Bloomberg) -- Research In Motion Ltd., the maker of the BlackBerry e-mail phone, missed analysts' profit estimates for the first time in five quarters and gave a disappointing forecast amid higher spending to take on Apple Inc.'s new iPhone.

The shares fell 7.6 percent after Research In Motion reported first-quarter profit of 84 cents a share, trailing the 85 cents predicted by analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Earnings this period will be as little as 84 cents, compared with the 92- cent average prediction.

Co-Chief Executive Officer James Balsillie boosted selling and marketing expenses by 84 percent in the quarter to counter the buzz of the iPhone and new handsets from smaller rival Palm Inc. Apple will release a faster iPhone next month that costs $199, cheaper than some BlackBerry models. That may hinder Research In Motion's expansion beyond its corporate stronghold.

``They're ramping up spending, and it'll be mostly for marketing,'' said Morgan Keegan analyst Tavis McCourt in Nashville, Tennessee. He expects the stock to perform in line with the wider market and doesn't own any. ``A lot of analysts will need to lower their profit estimates going forward.''

Research In Motion, based in Waterloo, Ontario, fell $10.84 to $131.50 in extended trading after closing at $142.34 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock has more than doubled in the past 12 months.

Sales more than doubled to $2.24 billion in the quarter ended May 31, missing the average prediction of $2.27 billion in the Bloomberg survey of analysts. Profit of $482.5 million was more than twice last year's $223.2 million, or 39 cents a share, Research In Motion said in a statement.

Sales Miss

Research In Motion is using the $99 Curve and Pearl to expand beyond its base of business clients, which account for the majority of its more than 16 million subscribers. That pits the BlackBerry against the iPhone, the handset that incorporates the music and video features of Apple's iPod.

Consumers accounted for about 60 percent of new subscribers last quarter and now make up more than 40 percent of customers, Balsillie, 47, said on a conference call with analysts. The company will increase spending on product development and marketing as it prepares for product introductions in the second half, he said.

Palm boosted its share of the U.S. market for more advanced phones to 13.4 percent in the first calendar quarter, from 7.9 percent in the previous period, helped by the $99 Centro, according to research firm IDC in Framingham, Massachusetts. The BlackBerry expanded its share to 44.5 percent from 35.1 percent, while Apple's slice fell to 19.2 percent from 26.7 percent.

New Subscribers

Research In Motion added 2.3 million users last quarter, compared with the 2.2 million estimate of UBS AG analyst Maynard Um in New York.

Second-quarter sales will probably be between $2.55 billion and $2.65 billion, the company said. That compares with the $2.45 billion estimated by analysts. Research In Motion predicted subscriber additions of about 2.6 million, compared with Um's estimate of 2.47 million.

With the new iPhone, Apple is making a stronger push to lure corporate users. The device adds business e-mail features and runs on third-generation, or 3G, wireless networks, meaning users can download data at least twice as fast as the previous model.

Research In Motion's profit forecast suggests that the BlackBerry Bold, its response to the new iPhone, will go on sale later than the company planned, Global Crown Capital analyst Pablo Perez-Fernandez in San Francisco said. The company unveiled the device last month and said it will be available in the U.S. this summer for $300 to $400.

Bold Delayed?

``Our fears about the Bold being late are probably true and that's why the stock is down,'' said Perez-Fernandez, who recommends buying the shares and doesn't own any.

The Bold will start ``ramping'' in the third quarter ending in November, Edel Ebbs, a company vice president, said on the call.

About two-thirds of Research In Motion's customers are in North America. The company has expanded internationally in the past year by selling the BlackBerry in China, the world's biggest mobile-phone market, and countries such as Russia and Ukraine.

Global shipments of phones with computer-like functions, including the BlackBerry, gained 29 percent to 32.3 million units in the first three months of this year, according to Stamford, Connecticut-based researcher Gartner Inc. Sales of more basic phones fell in Europe and the U.S.

Research In Motion, which gets most of its revenue from selling BlackBerrys, also collects fees from AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless and other phone companies for e-mail subscribers. The monthly fee is about $6 per customer, according to Goldman, Sachs & Co. estimates.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ville Heiskanen in New York at vheiskanen@bloomberg.net; Whitney Kisling in Washington at wkisling@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 25, 2008 18:42 EDT