Research In Motion has reportedly cut production orders for its PlayBook tablet device following poor sales, leading to around 1,000 job losses at the outsourced factory, Quanta Computer.

Quanta Computer was ordered to avoid using mainland China based factories to avoid imitations of the PlayBook being leaked to local competitors, so set up a dedicated facility in Taiwan, which has now been hit by the poor sales.

RIM had forecast sales of 4-5 million PlayBooks in 2011, but reported sales of less than 800,000 in the first six months of the year.

Nokia today announced the local availability of the Nokia N9 smartphone in key markets across Middle East and Africa.

Alessandro Lamanna, Nokia’s VP of sales, Middle East and Africa said, “The Nokia N9, which will be available in select markets across the world, is perfectly suited for this region’s high-tech and style conscious consumer who demand best-in-class products.”

Recent figures from Gartner reveal that Nokia smartphones continue to be market leaders in MEA, claiming 41.9 per cent of the category market, consumers in the region clearly value and trust Nokia products.

The Nokia N9 introduces an innovative new design where the home key is replaced by a simple gesture: a swipe. Whenever the user is in an application, swiping from the edge of the display takes him home.

The three home views of the user interface are designed to give fast access to the most important things people do with a phone: using apps, staying up to date with notifications and social networks, and switching between activities.

With no need for a home key, the all-screen Nokia N9 makes more room for apps to shine. The 3.9-inch AMOLED screen is made from scratch-resistant curved glass. The polycarbonate body enables superior antenna performance. This means better reception, better voice quality and fewer dropped calls.

The recommended retail price of the device is between US$600-US$650 and is Nokia’s strongest attempt to date to regain a strong strategic foothold in the smartphone market, having seen stiff challenge from Apple, Samsung, RIM and LG in recent times.

Research In Motion (RIM) posted fiscal Q211 financial results for the three months ending August 27, with sales of the PlayBook tablet being particularly disappointing.

Just 200,000 units of the QNX-based device were shipped in the period, a number much lower than forecasted. Revenues in the quarter amounted to US$4.2 billion, with service revenue having passed US$1 billion for the first time. However, revenue was down from US$4.62 billion in the same period a year earlier

Net income for the period amounted to US$329 million, down a staggering 59 per cent year-on-year.

Good news came in that RIM managed to ship 10.6 million BlackBerry smartphones in the three months to end-August, with the Canadian manufacturer expecting things to improve in the next quarter when the sales of the newly launched BlackBerry OS 7-based smartphones are set to have a bigger impact.

The manufacturer claimed that its subscriber base grew by 40 per cent year-on-year to surpass 70 million as of August 27.

RIM also announced that seven new smartphones were launched over 90 carriers in 30 countries during the latter part of Q2.

Saudi Arabia’s Mobily claims to have become the first network in the Middle-East to offer commercial LTE services.

Mobily has launched LTE in several provincial cities in the kingdom, including Najran and Jazan in the south and Al Gurayat. A second phase will be launched in two weeks, Mobily said in a statement, followed by the major cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam in the middle of next month.

Coverage of the LTE service should reach 30 cities, covering 85 per cent of the population by the end of the year.

Meanwhile Zain Saudi Arabia also claimed to have become the first mobile network operator in the Middle East to commercially launch a commercial LTE network. The operator announced that customers in three major Saudi cities – Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam – can now benefit from the service through a special package offering, with the company planning to extend the LTE offering in stages in the coming months that will eventually cover the kingdom’s major cities by the end of 2012.

Zain began trialling LTE in February 2010 with Motorola, Ericsson and Huawei. The commercial offering was launched in partnership with Huawei.

Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has announced the appointment of Igor Leprince to lead its business in the Middle East region, effective October 1, 2011. Leprince, who will be based in Dubai, is currently global head of care within Nokia Siemens Networks’ Global Services business.

NSN employs around 3,200 people in the Middle East region with customers and operations and does business in 19 countries.

“I am delighted to have someone of Igor’s experience and track record to lead our business in the Middle East,” said Ashish Chowdhary, executive board member and head of customer operations east for NSN. “Igor brings a deep customer understanding as well as global experience running complex operations. He is a valued team player with excellent negotiation and management expertise.”

Leprince succeeds Jörg Erlemeier, who has led the Middle East region, including the previously combined Middle East and Africa region, since September 2009. Erlemeier is moving to a new role within the customer operations east organisation.