Blackberry To Cut 4,500 Jobs

Blackberry has announced that after huge losses, it plans to cut 4,500 jobs or 40 percent of its worldwide workforce.

In a statement on Friday, Blackberry’s chief executive 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.”

“Going forward, we plan to refocus our offering on our end-to-end solution of hardware, software and services for enterprises and the productive, professional end user.”

Shares in the firm closed down at 17 percent and the company has said that it anticipates losses of $995 million when it reports the second-quarter earnings next week.

Z10 Model Disappointing

Blackberry has attributed losses mainly to the disappointing sales of the Z10 model of the smartphone. Back in June, Heins said that out of the 6.8 million handsets produced, only 2.7 million were shipped. Blackberry users had decided to stick with earlier models.

Then in August, board member Timothy Dattels was appointed to work with a committee that would consider Blackberry’s options, including a possible sale.

Although analysts have felt that patents belonging to Blackberry could entice potential buyers, none of the big names in technology have shown an interest publicly.

No doubt the announcement of job cuts and losses will make anyone who is considering buying Blackberry think again.

Even with the release of a new version of its handset, the Z30, the future does not look so good, especially as the launch was overshadowed by the new Apple products.

[Image via Huffington Post]

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24182038