Reseach In Motion saw revenue plunge 33 per cent in the quarter ending June 2 to $2.8 billion compared to the previous quarter, causing it to suffer a net loss of $518 million, the company said Thursday.
More imporantly the company said the launch of its next-generationBlackBerry 10 devices won’t meet the promises of being on the market bythe end of this year. Instead, it will be released some time in thefirst three months of next year. That means it will miss the crucial2012 December holiday buying season.
The Waterloo, Ont.-based company also said that as part of an effort tosave $1 billion incosts it will cut 5,000 jobs worldwide over the next nine months.
“Our first quarter results reflect the market challenges I haveoutlined since my appointment as CEO at the end of January,” ThorstenHeins said in a news release. “I am not satisfied with these resultsand continue to work aggressivelywith all areas of the organization and the Board to implementmeaningful changes to address the challenges, including a thoughtfulrealignment of resources and honing focus within the Company on areasthat have the greatest opportunities.
“Our top priority going forward is the successful launch of our firstBlackBerry 10 device, which we now anticipate will occur in the firstquarter of calendar 2013. In parallel with the roll out of BlackBerry10, we are aggressively working with our advisors on our strategicreview and are actively evaluating ways to better leverage our assetsand build on our strengths, including our growing BlackBerry subscriberbase of approximately 78 million, our large enterprise installed base,our unique network architecture and our industry leading securitycapabilities.”
The delay in getting BB10 devices to market will be of greatconcern to financial and industry analyts, because it puts RIM furtherbehind competitors as they launch new handsets. Meanwhile loyalBlackBerry customers will have to decide either to wait or jump ship.
Howard Solomon is assistant editor of ComputerWorld Canada.