Bad news today for folks that have been drooling over BBX BlackBerry 10 devices like the Milan and London, as RIM has confirmed on its Q3 earnings call that it won't be launching the first BlackBerry 10-powered handset until "the latter part" of 2012. Co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis explained that the delay is due to the fact that the chipsets RIM has selected for inclusion into the devices won't be ready until mid-2012. These new chips that RIM is waiting on will bring with them multi-core performance, improved power efficiency, and LTE support.

We've previously heard that the first BlackBerry 10 device to market would be the London and that it's expected to arrive sometime in Q3 2012, so today's news seems to support the rumors that we're still a ways off from seeing handsets with RIM's new operating system. That's a bit of a bummer for folks that are looking forward to BlackBerry 10, and it may make devices like the iPhone 4S, Galaxy Nexus and Nokia's upcoming Windows Phones more attractive to people that otherwise would have waited for BB10 products. What do you all make of this news? Do you think BlackBerry 7 will be enough to fend off the competition until late 2012?

Via All Things D, MobileBurn