BlackBerry To Cut 4,500 Jobs As Z10 Fizzles

BlackBerry will cut 4,500 jobs or up to 40 per cent of its global workforce as the Canadian phone manufacturer struggles to keep pace with competition.

The company, which is expected to post a second quarter loss of around $995 million this week, said that it is targeting to cut operating expenditures by around 50 per cent by the end of the first quarter of 2015.

In a statement, Thorsten Heins, president and CEO of BlackBerry 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.”

BlackBerry mainly attributed its loss to poor sales of the company’s new Z10 smartphone. In the second quarter, the company shipped only 2.7 million BB 10 smartphones, compared to total shipments of 6.8 million phones, it said.

Going ahead, the firm plans to transition its future smartphone portfolio from six devices to four, the statement said. The portfolio will focus on enterprise and prosumer-centric targeted devices, including two high-end devices and two entry-level devices in all-touch and QWERTY models.

BlackBerry also hopes to re-popularise the BB10 OS with the launch of the Z30, its next generation smartphone.

“The special committee of the company’s board continues to evaluate all strategic alternatives for the company,” the statement added.