Ailing smartphone manufacturer BlackBerry has revealed that it is to shed 40 per cent of its workforce, with 4,500 job cuts to be made ahead of an anticipated $1 billion quarterly loss.
Having been forced into previous job cuts in recent years, BlackBerry, formerly known as RIM, has failed to revive its fortunes and will now begin the process of making 40 per cent of its global workforce redundant in the coming months.
A former giant of the smartphone sector, BlackBerry has failed to keep up to speed with the likes of the Apple and Google in the phone market in recent years. The company has predicted second quarter losses of $995 million (£621m).
In the wake of the announcement, BlackBerry share prices have plummeted 17 per cent, spelling further woes for the Canadian company.
Making the announcement, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins issued a statement outlining the firm’s plans to streamline its employment numbers and business propositions.
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“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.”
The BlackBerry job cuts announcement comes 24 hours after the company quietly unveiled its largest smartphone offering, the BlackBerry Z30. What’s more, the BBM for Android app will be officially launched later today.
Having launched its new BlackBerry 10 operating system earlier this year in a bid to be more competitive with the likes of Apple and Android, devices such as the iPhone 5S and Samsung Galaxy S4 continue to eclipse interest in BlackBerry’s new operating system.
Having been plagued with extensive delays, reception to BB10 fell somewhat flat, with the platform’s currently supported handsets, the BlackBerry Z10, BlackBerry Q10 and BlackBerry Q5, all having failed to garner much consumer interest.
Read More: BlackBerry Q10 review
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
