That didn’t take long. After Android Chief Andy Rubin creepy / geeky tweet, here comes the RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie defending BlackBerry against Steve Jobs’ assumptions and statements. As usual in the industry, he refers to Apple’s “distortion field”.

Unlike Steve Jobs, BlackBeery believes “7” tablets will actually be a big portion of the market” and that “Adobe Flash support actually matters to customer”. He goes on to say customers are getting tired of being controlled by Apple, and the numbers Jobs pulled out were referring to the August ending quarter, which is usually low on sales. But the thing is, it wasn’t a holiday season quarter for Apple either, so I don’t see the point here. Anyway, he concludes with the prediction that even the customers inside the distortion field will eventually grow tired of being told “half the story”.

Full statement below.

For those of us who live outside of Apple’s distortion field, we know that 7” tablets will actually be a big portion of the market and we know that Adobe Flash support actually matters to customers who want a real web experience. We also know that while Apple’s attempt to control the ecosystem and maintain a closed platform may be good for Apple, developers want more options and customers want to fully access the overwhelming majority of web sites that use Flash. We think many customers are getting tired of being told what to think by Apple. And by the way, RIM has achieved record shipments for five consecutive quarters and recently shared guidance of 13.8 – 14.4 million BlackBerry smartphones for the current quarter. Apple’s preference to compare its September-ending quarter with RIM’s August-ending quarter doesn’t tell the whole story because it doesn’t take into account that industry demand in September is typically stronger than summer months, nor does it explain why Apple only shipped 8.4 million devices in its prior quarter and whether Apple’s Q4 results were padded by unfulfilled Q3 customer demand and channel orders. As usual, whether the subject is antennas, Flash or shipments, there is more to the story and sooner or later, even people inside the distortion field will begin to resent being told half a story.

– Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at Research In Motion (RIM)