Research In Motion Ltd., the maker of the iconic BlackBerry device, said on Wednesday it expects to launch its wireless email service with China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd. by mid-year.

China offers huge growth potential for RIM as it is the world's largest telecommunications market and China Mobile, the world's top cellular carrier by subscribers, holds two-thirds of the market.

"Our talks with China Mobile are going very well. We are working very closely with them and a deal is expected very soon, probably by the middle of this year," Asia Pacific Vice President Norm Lo told Reuters in an interview.

Lo also said RIM would launch a BlackBerry device that uses third-generation (3G) mobile technology in the second half of this year, possibly in the July-September quarter.

The Ontario, Canada-based company expects to launch its BlackBerry wireless email service with another 100 telecoms providers globally this year, including over 10 carriers in the Asia Pacific region, Lo said, but declined to name the carriers.

RIM already offers the BlackBerry service with over 160 carriers in more than 60 countries worldwide. In Asia, it has tied up with 21 telecoms providers in 11 markets.

Last week, RIM reported fourth-quarter results in line with its reduced forecast, but estimated first-quarter revenue, earnings and subscriber growth well below Wall Street targets.

Analysts ratcheted down their estimates and some downgraded the stock after the disappointing projections.

Last month, the company agreed to pay U.S. patent holding company NTP Inc. US$612.5 million to settle a four-year legal dispute which had threatened to shut down the BlackBerry service in the U.S. to some 3.2 million subscribers.