The report on RIM’s last quarter actually beat out estimates from many analysts but that would only be true if you don’t count the $485 million hit the company took on unsold playbooks.

It’s been a trying year for RIM. There have been security snafus and subpar product launches and an overwhelming sense of stagnation. All of which is compounded by the company’s blind hubris, be it last year’s ridiculous BlackBerry Torch expectations or today’s claim by co-CEO Mike Lazardis that every day he “[hears] stories… about people saying the BlackBerry Bold is the best communication device in the world today.” If those are the stories you’re hearing, maybe you’re spending too much time in the fiction aisle.

But despite all of the miscues, no matter how many blinders management has on, RIM has still managed to be profitable. Its subscription base hit 75 million this year. It pulls in a billion in cloud revenue on the regular. You’d be tempted to say that RIM was succeeding in spite of itself—if it weren’t for its greatest failure. The PlayBook: it’s RIM’s Gilligan, albatross, and giant self-destruct button all rolled into one. It could be the death of them.