Struggling smartphone company BlackBerry may slash 40 percent jobs by the end of the year.
It employed 12,700 people as of March, and once had almost 20,000 employees.
The job cut will impact India as well.
The Wall Street Journal report is coming at a time when BlackBerry is looking for a buyer its hardware and service businesses.
On Wednesday, BlackBerry announced BlackBerry Z30.
BlackBerry could eliminate up to 40 percent of its jobs and the layoffs will happen across job functions and likely occur in waves.
The 5-inch BlackBerry Z30 smartphone is BlackBerry’s biggest, fastest and most advanced smartphone, featuring BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2.
In June 2013, Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry its revenue rose 9 percent to $3.1 billion in Q1 ended June 1, 2013. Revenue from APAC, which includes India, increased 35 percent sequentially. ( BlackBerry Q1 revenue up 9% to $3.1 billion, ships 6.8 million smartphones )
All its main regions — excluding Latin Ameria — supported BlackBerry in the first quarter.
North America revenue increased sequentially 30 percent, APAC revenue grew 35 percent, EMEA revenue rose 9 percent. On the other hand, LATAM revenue declined 6 percent.
The smartphone major, which is in the process of recovering from its earlier slump, reported 15 percent revenue growth sequentially.
Industry reports indicate that the second quarter will not be healthy for BlackBerry. Ever since the news on “looking for a buyer” spread to mobile industry, BlackBerry phones are receiving poor response from the trading community.
Its main concern is the net loss of $84 million in the first quarter ended June 30, 2013. This had indicated that the company’s failure to rake in revenue from its earlier investments in products and marketing.
BlackBerry 10 and new devices, announced in January, did not assist the smartphone maker to bring back its lost glory.
BlackBerry earlier said it shipped 6.8 million smartphones, up 13 percent sequentially from the previous quarter. Currently, it is unable to compete with Samsung and Apple. Since Nokia will be acquired by Microsoft, BlackBerry will be under more pressure to improve market share and profitability.
