Biz Break: Are Apple's iPhone, Google's Android army outbattling BlackBerry?

Today: Shares of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion fall 21.5percent. Plus: Silicon Valley tech employers add jobs in May. And:Google (GOOG), Netflix (NFLX), Silicon Valley tech stocks.

BlackBerry vs. iPhone and Android

Shares of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion plummeted today --a day after the Canadian company revealed that sales and profit havedropped, new products have been delayed, and an unspecified numberof job cuts are on the way.

Analysts say RIM has fallen behind in the smartphone wars withsuch rivals as Apple (AAPL), maker of the iPhone, and Google, makerof the Android software on an army of devices from numerousmanufacturers.

"RIM has dug itself a deep hole to climb out of," Gleacher & Co.analyst Stephen Patel noted in an email today. "While new productsin the fall should help, we are increasingly concerned that theywill not be enough to stabilize share loss vs. faster movingcompetitors."

RIM's prospects are so dire Jarislowsky Fraser -- the company'ssixth-largest investor at the end of March -- has since sold morethan half its shares, according to Bloomberg News.

"They are resting on their laurels," Stephen Jarislowsky, theMontreal investment firm's chairman, told the news service. "SteveJobs is a much better marketer than RIM."

After the stock markets closed Thursday afternoon, RIM disclosedthat revenue in its most recent quarter fell 12 percent from a yearearlier to $4.9 billion and profit plunged 26 percent to $695million.

"Fiscal 2012 has gotten off to a challenging start," co-CEO JimBalsillie noted in a statement accompanying the results. "Delays innew product introductions into the very late part of August areleading to a lower-than-expected outlook in the second quarter."

RIM's shares finished regular trading today at $27.75, down$7.58, or 21.5 percent, from Thursday's closing price.

Silicon Valley's job market

Silicon Valley tech employers added jobs in May, and theunemployment rate in the beautiful (if bureaucratically named) SanJose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area fell to 9.9 percent, theCalifornia Employment Development Department reported today. It wasthe first time since February 2009 that the region's jobless ratewas below 10 percent.

By contrast, the unemployment rate was 10.1 percent in April and11.1 percent in May 2010.

Employers in Santa Clara County (the hub of Silicon Valley's techindustry) and mostly agricultural San Benito County added 2,100 jobslast month, with gains in such tech-heavy sectors as professionaland business services, computer and electronics manufacturing, andinformation.

Total employment reached 873,100, up by 9,500, or 1.1 percent,from May 2010. It was the 11th month in a row of year-over-year jobgains. Both the manufacturing and information sectors added 5,300employees.

More tech headlines

Google: The Justice Department is likely to investigate theMountain View Internet advertising juggernaut's planned $400 millionacquisition of Admeld, Bloomberg News is reporting today, citing twounnamed "people familiar with the situation."

Google disclosed plans earlier this week to buy Admeld, a NewYork company that helps Web publishers make more money by managingwhich display ads are placed on their sites.

Netflix: Sony has pulled movies available through the Starz pay-TV channel from Netflix's Internet streaming service, the Los Gatosonline video pioneer acknowledged today in a blog post.

"This is the result of a temporary contract issue between Sonyand Starz," Pauline Fischer, Netflix's vice president of contentacquisition, wrote in the post.

Silicon Valley tech stocks

Up: Oracle (ORCL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), VMware, eBay (EBAY).

Down: Apple, Google, Intel (INTC), Cisco Systems (CSCO), GileadSciences (GILD), Yahoo (YHOO).

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index: Down 7.22, or 0.3 percent,to 2,616.48.

The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average: Up 42.84, or 0.4percent, to 12,004.36.

And the widely watched Standard & Poor's 500 index: Up 3.86, or0.3 percent, to 1,271.50.

Check in weekday afternoons for the 60-Second Business Break, asummary of news from Mercury News staff writers, The AssociatedPress, Bloomberg News and other wire services. Contact Frank Russellat 408-920-5876. Follow him at Twitter.com/mercspike.