• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, June 16, 2011

Research in Motion said it shipped about 13.2 million BlackBerrys in the first quarter, falling below its low end, the 13.5 to 14.5 million range it gave in late March.

Continuing to struggle against smartphone competitors like Apple and Google, RIM also said in reporting first-quarter results that it plans layoffs across the entire organization.

One bright spot for RIM was initial sales of its PlayBook tablet.

Launched in April, the device is taking on Apple's iPad and Android-based tablets like the Galaxy Tab, shipping about 500,000 units -- better than the 400,000 expected by analysts.

RIM earned $695 million, or $1.33 a share, in line with lowered guidance. Revenue of $4.91 billion, however, fell below Wall Street's estimate of $5.15 billion.

A recent IDC forecast predicted RIM's 14.2% share of the worldwide smartphone OS market will dip to 13.4%, while Android will grow to control more than 40% over the same period.