Research In Motion shares were down almost five per cent after an analyst predicted the next generation of BlackBerrys likely won't hit shelves until March.

Jeffries and Co. analyst Peter Misek says while they had hoped for a January launch, a March rollout is "more likely."

He added that with no new BlackBerry products to sell before then, retailers have grown cautious about holding RIM inventory -- and the uncertainty will delay any potential licensing deals.

Misek set at price target of $5 on RIM based on its Nasdaq listing.

RIM (TSX:RIM) shares were down 38 cents, or 4.7 per cent, to $7.68 in early afternoon trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The Waterloo, Ont-based company says it's on track to deliver BlackBerry 10 phones in the first three months of the year.

A January or February release would potentially bolster financial results in RIM's fourth quarter, which ends March 2.

RIM chief executive Thorsten Heins has said a touchscreen model would launch first while the physical keyboard version will come about one to two months later.

RIM has been plagued by cooly received launches for products such as the PlayBook tablet and delays in bringing the BB10 operating system and devices to market.

It has also lost market share to Apple's iPhone and devices running the Android operating system.

Last month, RIM reported a quarterly loss of US$235 million or 45 cents per diluted share compared with a profit of $329 million or 63 cents per share a year ago.

The company's adjusted loss was $142 million or 27 cents per share. While large, RIM's loss was still much better than the 47 cents per share loss expected by analysts polled by Bloomberg.

The company reports third-quarter results on Dec. 20.