BlackBerry loses $4.4 billion in Q3, sells just 4.3 million devices
Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry on Friday reported third-quarter losses of more than $4 billion as weak hardware demand continues to bedevil the company's turnaround bid.
The news was grim for BlackBerry in the company's first financial report since an executive reshuffling that saw then-CEO Thorsten Heins forced out and replaced by former Sybase chief John S. Chen, with revenues down 24 percent from the previous quarter and 56 percent from the same time one year ago. The $4.4 billion loss was helped along by $4.6 billion in one-time charges related to the restructuring and inventory commitments.
BlackBerry now has just $3.2 billion in the bank --?less than half as much as rival Apple puts away in a single quarter.
Alongside the drop in revenue came a precipitous decline in device sales, with the company moving over 1.5 million fewer smartphones than they did in the previous quarter. BlackBerry 10-series devices continue to face tepid demand, representing less than one-fourth of the Waterloo, Ontario-based company's sales.
The lone bright spot in BlackBerry's third quarter results was the revelation that more than 40 million users have signed up for BlackBerry Messenger since its launch, as BlackBerry has convinced more than a dozen manufacturers to preinstall the app on their Android devices. BlackBerry Messenger's cross-platform rollout was originally conceived by company cofounder Jim Balsillie, but the strategy was later spiked by Heins and only resurrected after the abject failure of BlackBerry 10, which eventually cost Heins his job.
As part of a new emerging market strategy, BlackBerry also announced that it has inked an agreement with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn to "jointly develop and manufacture certain new BlackBerry devices and manage the inventory associated with those devices." The company says the partnership's first product will be a smartphone for the Indonesian market, where BlackBerry still enjoys a strong presence.
The news was grim for BlackBerry in the company's first financial report since an executive reshuffling that saw then-CEO Thorsten Heins forced out and replaced by former Sybase chief John S. Chen, with revenues down 24 percent from the previous quarter and 56 percent from the same time one year ago. The $4.4 billion loss was helped along by $4.6 billion in one-time charges related to the restructuring and inventory commitments.
BlackBerry now has just $3.2 billion in the bank --?less than half as much as rival Apple puts away in a single quarter.
Alongside the drop in revenue came a precipitous decline in device sales, with the company moving over 1.5 million fewer smartphones than they did in the previous quarter. BlackBerry 10-series devices continue to face tepid demand, representing less than one-fourth of the Waterloo, Ontario-based company's sales.
The lone bright spot in BlackBerry's third quarter results was the revelation that more than 40 million users have signed up for BlackBerry Messenger since its launch, as BlackBerry has convinced more than a dozen manufacturers to preinstall the app on their Android devices. BlackBerry Messenger's cross-platform rollout was originally conceived by company cofounder Jim Balsillie, but the strategy was later spiked by Heins and only resurrected after the abject failure of BlackBerry 10, which eventually cost Heins his job.
As part of a new emerging market strategy, BlackBerry also announced that it has inked an agreement with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn to "jointly develop and manufacture certain new BlackBerry devices and manage the inventory associated with those devices." The company says the partnership's first product will be a smartphone for the Indonesian market, where BlackBerry still enjoys a strong presence.
Comments
Doomed
Positively beleaguered!
I think they should sell the company off and give the money off to their shareholders...
I'm a proudly canadian, and the whole BlackBerry saga sadden me a lot.
RIM had a niche product and instead of keep focussing on their core market, they try to become an Apple themselves with entertainment oriented product like the Playbook. When they reverted back to business market with the BB10 OS, it was too late for them.
(iSupply will probably find the internals are made out of solid saffron or something.)
Unfortunately, I believe they are now in a downward spiral from which they are unlikely to escape. Companies are moving away from buying their devices because they are losing sales and market share, quickening the death spiral.
In addition, their cash position is confusing. I haven't yet read their financials, and won't have time to do so during the day today, but cash and equivalents rising from $2.6 billion to $3.2 billion is counterintuitive to a company in the situation Blackberry finds itself.
So for the moment, I'm assuming that this is because they are now counting the $1 billion in bonds they issued that Fairfax bought up in the total. That would make more sense, as the carryover from the quarter before would then actually be $2.2 billion. That makes more sense. Their cash situation therefor is actually continuing to deteriorate.
And their stock is up 7% in trading today.
well, it was 4.2Million more units than my estimate;-)
Unfortunately, I believe they are now in a downward spiral from which they are unlikely to escape. Companies are moving away from buying their devices because they are losing sales and market share, quickening the death spiral.
The US government still has a very high opinion of BB.... doesn't let the President have his iPhone.
I don't think it's a high opinion, I think it's the fact the BB the president uses can have its HW and SW controlled much more easily than with modern smartphones. I doubt Obama is using the Z10.
Apple profits in billions, stock takes a continual slide downward. Fire Tim Cook.
/s
Unfortunately, I believe they are now in a downward spiral ....
'Now'?
You have some funny logic. Sales are down because companies aren't buying their devices not vice versa.
That was my first thought. That's quite a subsidy eh?