Third-quarter revenue was “slightly lower” than the $5.3 billion to $5.6 billion the company had projected and earnings were “at the low to mid point” of its forecast range, according to an unscheduled statement from Waterloo, Ontario- based RIM today. The company said it doesn’t expect to meet its full-year earnings target.

RIM will record a $485 million pretax provision to revalue the inventory for the PlayBook tablet, which has failed to win over users in a market dominated by Apple’s iPad. RIM said more promotions are needed to drive demand for its tablet, whose shipments slumped to 150,000 units last quarter, the second straight drop.

RIM fell (RIMM) as much as 11 percent to $16.61 in trading before U.S. exchanges opened. The stock had dropped 68 percent this year before today.

RIM’s market-share decline has put pressure on the company to shake up management and prompted investors such as Jaguar Financial Corp. (JFC) to call for it to divide into separate companies, seek a merger or sell itself.

The company’s U.S. market share sank to 9.2 percent in the third quarter from 24 percent a year earlier as consumers opted for Apple’s iPhone and phones from Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) and HTC Corp. (2498) that run Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android software, according to research firm Canalys.

RIM said device shipments in the fourth quarter will decline from the third quarter. In the fiscal third quarter ended Nov. 26, BlackBerry smartphone shipments were 14.1 million, in line with the company’s forecast.

RIM plans to report detailed results for the third quarter on Dec. 15.

(Bloombergnews)