Andre Yoskowitz
28 Jun 2012 18:44
Dying smartphone maker Research in Motion (RIM) has posted their latest quarterly earnings today, and unsurprisingly they were horrendous.
On top of a large loss, the company says they are laying off 5000 employees and delaying BlackBerry 10, again. RIM lost $518 million for the quarter, compared to a profit of $695 million in the same quarter last year. Revenue fell to $2.8 billion, well below the company's own expectations.
Expected to be launched last year, the new operating system (and its line of phones) will not see retail shelves until at least the first quarter of 2013.
The layoffs will equal 24 percent of RIM's entire work force, and will help them to reach their goal of slashing $1 billion in costs per year.
New CEO Thorsten Heins had this to say of the work force reduction: "It is necessary to change the scale and refocus the company. I fully understand the impact a workforce reduction of this size has on our employees and the communities in which we operate. I assure you that we wouldn't move forward with a change of this size if we didn't think it was critical for our future."
Shares of the stock fell another 16 percent to $7.70. The company hit its high of $144 the week the iPhone 3G was released in 2008.