BlackBerry sells just 1.6M smartphones in Q4 as software, services grow
Canadian device maker BlackBerry on Friday revealed yet another quarterly decline in hardware sales, moving just 1.6 million smartphones in its fiscal fourth quarter as its once-dominant device business continues to retreat.
The meager sales numbers represent a steep year-over-year decline for BlackBerry, which sold 3.4 million handsets in the same period -- which includes the holiday season -- one year ago. The company has turned its finances around in the interim, however, posting a $20 million profit in Q4 and boosting cash on hand to $3.27 billion.
In contrast, Apple sold some 74.5 million iPhones in its own record-breaking holiday quarter, with profits of $18 billion helping to push its cash hoard to $179 billion.
BlackBerry's software and services continue to expand even as the hardware business falters, together accounting for 57 percent of the company's revenue. Software revenue has been particularly strong, increasing 20 percent sequentially to $67 million.
The company is betting on software and services as it seeks to reinvent itself for the Apple and Samsung-led mobile landscape. CEO John Chen said earlier this month that BlackBerry has undergone a "philosophical" shift from hardware to software company.
"We are committed to making software as a business," he said at the annual Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona. "We are going to evolve."
The meager sales numbers represent a steep year-over-year decline for BlackBerry, which sold 3.4 million handsets in the same period -- which includes the holiday season -- one year ago. The company has turned its finances around in the interim, however, posting a $20 million profit in Q4 and boosting cash on hand to $3.27 billion.
In contrast, Apple sold some 74.5 million iPhones in its own record-breaking holiday quarter, with profits of $18 billion helping to push its cash hoard to $179 billion.
BlackBerry's software and services continue to expand even as the hardware business falters, together accounting for 57 percent of the company's revenue. Software revenue has been particularly strong, increasing 20 percent sequentially to $67 million.
The company is betting on software and services as it seeks to reinvent itself for the Apple and Samsung-led mobile landscape. CEO John Chen said earlier this month that BlackBerry has undergone a "philosophical" shift from hardware to software company.
"We are committed to making software as a business," he said at the annual Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona. "We are going to evolve."
Comments
Apple sold that much every Two days in the last qtr.
Sold or shipped? I'd believe they sent 1.6 million to the landfill, but selling 1.6 million is a bit hard to fathom.
Oh lord... here we go again.
I'd love to see these mythical landfills where people think most smartphones end up. They must be packed after all these years.
Can't believe they sold (or shipped) any at all. I guess something is better than nothing for them...
Oh lord... here we go again.
I'd love to see these mythical landfills where people think most smartphones end up. They must be packed after all these years.
It's a valid argument. There are promotions to give phones away.
You had a good run RIM but I think the writing is on the wall.
This is what happens when you go to where the puck is instead of where it will be. Apple is always looking ahead and the others are always looking where Apple is and trying to follow.
There are people in enterprise-style environments that still match getting work done to blackberry. Plenty of people at the company I work for have blackberry's and stand by them in the workplace.
I'm not exactly against them selling phones. Blackberry, if they step up, has the potential to be a legitimate competitor to Apple, not just a copycat that's able to sell a buttload of phones with little to no repercussions.
I'm curious who is buying Blackberrys at this point.
Good question. With the failed hardware business and pointless OS no longer being contributing factors to a black number and most hardware development being outsourced (easy to cut off)... Chances for somebody wanting access to regulated businesses / governments might be better now.
Only fools where expecting this "turnaround" to bring BB back to the old glory days. Apple is the only electronics maker that ever had a comeback, and that was a "once in a lifetime" story. But no longer bleeding cash and still having the largest installed base in the, for now, important MDM market is at least something. They must sell while this still makes any sense, the systems of the future (and several products are already moving into that direction) will manage everything that is remotely a computer, without requiring different management tools for every platform. BB will not be able to play there, companies like MS and IBM are lightyears ahead.
Can't believe they sold (or shipped) any at all. I guess something is better than nothing for them...
The US Government still uses them as do some enterprise entities. I wonder how many went to the Government?
Oh I see... it's not the usual "they all end up in a landfill" argument...
Instead it's the "the only way they moved that many units is by giving them away" argument.
Look... any promotion where a product is "given away" would be done by the retailer... not the manufacturer.
Blackberry is not giving away devices. They have a business to run. They got paid for each and every unit. And that's the end of their involvement. Transaction complete.
Once it reaches the retailer... anything can happen. Some could even be "given away"
Now... I'm sure you will spin this into saying people who accept a "free" Blackberry wouldn't have paid for it normally. But the same can be said for any phone that is involved in a promotion. Free iPhone 5c anyone?
And you know these phones aren't really "given away" right? The carriers more than make their money back from your 24 months of monthly fees on your "free" phone.
You ARE paying for it.
So... in a sense... the device gets "sold" a couple times. From the manufacturer to the carrier... and from the carrier to you (in the form of monthly fees)
Any time money changes hands... it's a sale.
So... shipped or sold? It's actually BOTH
[@]Relic[/@] is, and another million, and a half. They made a profit, so they were indeed sold.
http://mashable.com/2011/05/06/playbook-amateur-hour/
I did see some one on the train yesterday using a blackberry... I felt pity for him.
The US Government still uses them as do some enterprise entities. I wonder how many went to the Government?
If there is a choice between BB and iPhone, most users would go for iPhone. But, some companies don't let users choose. My son has one from his work. He uses the BB only for work (mostly on reading work emails). For everything else, he uses his own iPhone 5s.
If there is a choice between BB and iPhone, most users would go for iPhone. But, some companies don't let users choose.
Exactly right. When I joined my current company 3 years ago, they gave me a BB and paid the monthly bill. I've never liked it. They now tell me I can get a new phone...but it has to be Android.
No thanks. If I've got to use a sh!t phone, I'll just stay with the old sh!t phone. I'm looking forward to this year's crop out of Cupertino. Honestly, the iP6 may be larger than I want/need, based on how I use and carry a phone, but I would like to be able to use ApplePay. Even if the monthly cost comes out of my pocket.
BTW, in an up market with an absence of any Apple news, I'm blaming BBY for dragging down AAPL today ("Uh oh- people are buying fewer smartphones!")
They only booked revenue on 1.3 million.
5.2 million a year is a long way from 10 million, Chen's target. He should abandon hardware.