Sales estimates for the BlackBerry Torch's inaugural weekend are beginning to surface, and they're a bit less than spectacular. And if that isn't enough, Amazon has already cut the Torch's price in half - something a RIM spokeswoman said Amazon has done since it launched.

Estimates for the BlackBerry Torch's inaugural weekend are beginning to surface, and they're a bit less than spectacular. Analyst firms Sifel Nicolaus and RBC Capital Markets both estimate sales of Research in Motion's new smartphone at around 150,000.

The numbers aren't terrible, but they're likely far from the fortune-changing sales RIM was no doubt hoping for. And compared to the 1.7 million units Apple moved in the first three days of the iPhone 4, they are perhaps a bit troubling for a brand that was once synonymous with the smartphone in the U.S.

The business-minded smartphone has been steady losing marketshare in recent years, thanks to the rapid ascension of the iPhone and Google's Android operating system.

The Wall Street Journal puts forth a number of reasons why sales for RIM's first touchscreen slider may have been so lackluster. For one thing, enterprise customers tend to be much slower in adopting new technology for employees, as anyone who has ever worked for a large business can no doubt attest.

There's also the fact that Torch is, at present, only available through one carrier in one countryAT&T in the U.S. It's also only available in one pricing configuration--$199.99 with a two-year contract on that carrier. Or it was: Amazon lists the Torch for $99, which the retailer has apparently done since the phone launched.

"Amazon actually launched the BlackBerry Torch from the very beginning at $99 and that is obviously a common online pricing and promotional strategy that has been used with many other product introductions in the past," a RIM spokeswoman said in an email.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated with comments from RIM on Amazon's pricing, which, due to an editing error, was erroneously stated to be a recent move.