Blackberry To Cut 4,500 Jobs
Beleaguered smartphone maker, Blackberry (NASDAQ: BBRY) announced on Friday that it will slash 4,500 jobs or 40% of the total global workforce.
Blackberry, once considered as a pioneer of the smartphone industry, anticipates posting a loss of $995 million. The Company is scheduled to report fiscal second quarter results next week.
Shares nosedived in aftermarket hours on Friday after trading was halted temporarily following the announcement.
Earlier in August, the Company said that it was considering all strategic options, including a possible sale.
In a statement released on Friday, the Company’s CEO, Thorstein Heins said, “We are implementing the difficult, but necessary operational changes announced today to address our position in a maturing and more competitive industry, and to drive the company toward profitability.”
Blackberry said that losses were mainly attributable to poor sales of its Z10 model, which hit the shelves in January amid much fanfare. However, the Phone struggled to excite users. In June, the Company reported that it shipped merely 2.7 million Z10 phones out of total 6.8 million shipments.
Last week, the Company unveiled its latest model, Z30, aiming to counter Apple Inc.’s latest model iPhone 5S and Samsung’s Galaxy S4.
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Post Written By: Ed Liston
Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht. |