Over the past couple of years, Research In Motion has been earnestly trying to appeal to the average consumer, rather than solely rely on its base of die-hard enterprise customers. As we enter a particularly competitive period with a number of new smartphone launches coming this summer that are aimed at both consumers and enterprise users, how is RIM (NSDQ: RIMM) doing? So far, results are mixed.

For instance, take the Blackberry Pearl Flip. Launched in October, and available through T-Mobile, the handset was supposed to introduce new users to the Blackberry software, but offer a form factor that was familiar, much like the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Razr, or standard Nokia (NYSE: NOK) or Samsung clam shell phone. But the bulky and dated look turned off the consumer, and “snapped the company’s streak of top-selling smartphones,” reports Dow Jones.

The flop of the Flip points to how difficult it will be for RIM to make the dramatic shift from enterprise user to the mass market. Dow Jones (NYSE: NWS) suggests, however, that the transition can be more serendipitous: if RIM makes good products, whether they are aimed at the enterprise or not, consumers will find them. You wonder if that’s true if there’s other more obviously compelling handsets in the market, like an updated iPhone or the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre. But that’s what happened with the Blackberry Curve, which was originally destined for business users, but exceeded iPhone sales in the first quarter. Matthew Thornton, an analyst at Avian Securities, estimates that while the Blackberry Bold sold 4.4 million devices in a four-month period, the Flip only sold 1.5 million units. Now, 70 percent of new users are considered a consumer, and overall, consumers make up half of RIM’s user base.