A major defect in Research in Motion's (RIM's) new BlackBerry Tour could turn into a financial SNAFU for the smartphone maker, cautions Gerard Hallaren, director of research at TownHall Investment Research.

According to Hallaren, RIM is "having a big trackball problem," one which puts BlackBerry Tour owners in the unenviable position of having to frequently apply a blast of compressed air to avoid letting the trackball get all gunked up. We suppose it could be worse, as anyone who is 'old' enough to remember using mechanical mice can attest, but Tour owners are understandably displeased.

The research firm says that return rates on the Tour at Sprint are approaching 50 percent, while Verizon is also "experiencing serious problems." And according to Hallaren, Sprint has determined that a needed increase in quality control could add 2 to 3 percent to production costs, which would be offset by a lower return rate.

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