WATERLOO, ON – BlackBerry reported a staggering US$4.4-billion loss in the third quarter amidst sluggish sales of its highly touted BlackBerry 10 smartphones.
Revenue for the period ended November 30, 2013 was $1.2 billion, down 24% from $1.6 billion in the previous quarter, and down 56% from $2.7 billion in the same quarter of fiscal 2013.
The revenue breakdown for the quarter was approximately 40% for hardware, 53% for services and 7% for software and other revenue. Approximately 4.3 million BlackBerry smartphones were sold through to end customers, of which approximately 3.2 million were the older BlackBerry 7 devices.
BlackBerry also recorded a number of items related to its restructuring efforts. Adjusted loss from continuing operations for the third quarter was $354 million.
Executive chairman and CEO John Chen said the company has “significant work ahead of us as we target improved financial performance next year”.
"With the operational and organizational changes we have announced, BlackBerry has established a clear roadmap that will allow it to target a return to improved financial performance in the coming year”, he said in a statement. “However, the Company is financially strong, has a broad and trusted product portfolio to work with, a talented employee base and a new leadership team dedicated to implementing our new roadmap."
BlackBerry also announced a five-year strategic partnership with Foxconn, best known as one of Apple’s main suppliers. The Taiwanese company will jointly develop and manufacture certain new BlackBerry devices and manage the inventory associated with those devices, beginning with a smartphone for Indonesia and other “fast-growing markets”.
Chen said the partnership demonstrates “BlackBerry's commitment to the device market for the long-term and our determination to remain the innovation leader in secure end-to-end mobile solutions".
"Partnering with Foxconn allows BlackBerry to focus on what we do best – iconic design, world-class security, software development and enterprise mobility management – while simultaneously addressing fast-growing markets leveraging Foxconn's scale and efficiency that will allow us to compete more effectively", he added.
