TORONTO—Research in Motion Limited (RIM), the Waterloo, Canada-based maker of BlackBerry smartphones, on Thursday posted its first quarter results for the three months ending June 2.
And the news isn’t pretty. RIM posted a net loss of US$518 million, or 99 cents per share; the adjusted net loss is $192 million, or 37 cents per share. This is far worse than what even the most pessimistic analysts predicted.
Revenue was US$2.8 billion, down 33 percent compared to the previous quarter’s $4.2 billion. Approximately 7.8 million BlackBerry smartphones and 260,000 PlayBook tablets were shipped during the quarter.
“Our first quarter results reflect the market challenges I have outlined since my appointment as CEO at the end of January,” said Thorsten Heins, President and CEO.
Heins declared that he was “not satisfied” with these results and will “work aggressively” to overcome these challenges, including realigning resources and focuses on areas that offer the company the greatest opportunities.
As part of an effort to cut costs by at least $1 billion by the end of this fiscal year, RIM will be slashing 5,000 employees from its 16,500-person workforce.
To dampen the mood further, RIM announced that it would delay the launch of BlackBerry 10—the smartphone line on which the company’s future hinges—until the first quarter of 2013, as opposed to previous statements of launching BlackBerry 10 in late 2012.
RIM said that although its software teams have made major progress on key features of the platform, integrating these features along with their large volume of code is taking more time than expected.
“RIM’s development teams are relentlessly focused on ensuring the quality and reliability of the platform and I will not compromise the product by delivering it before it is ready,” said Heins. “I am confident that the first BlackBerry 10 smartphones will provide a ground-breaking next generation smartphone user experience.”
The company mixes in some good news in its report, mentioning the continued growth of its app bank and overall subscriber base. Heins vowed to leverage RIM’s 78 million subscriber base in conjunction with the future BlackBerry 10 release.
However, investors were not impressed. RIM’s stock price (NASDAQ: RIMM) fell to $7.86 during Thursday’s after-hours trading, down 13.9 percent, or $1.27.
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.
Friends Read Free
Copy
Facebook
Tweet
