Telecom Lead America: Research In Motion (RIM),
maker of Blackberry smartphones has delayed the launch of new smartphones and
BlackBerry 10 OS.
In order to recover losses, RIM is also slashing 5,000
jobs across its global operations before the end of the year. The company
revealed that its business is crumbling faster than thought.
The company recently unveiled its prototype device
running on BlackBerry 10 OS, which was expected later this year. The
company’s CEO Thorsten Heins said that BlackBerry 10 OS will be
delayed even longer, to the first quarter of next year.
Plunging smartphone sales and dipping revenues has been
bothering the Canadian smartphone maker for almost 2 years. During this
quarter, RIM said it shipped just 7.8 million BlackBerry smartphones in the
quarter, down 41 percent from 13.2 million.
The company has also shifted focus towards emerging
markets such as India, Indonesia, and the Middle East. The company’s past
quarter results show that sales in these countries have been surging.
The latest announcements of Android OS-based smartphones,
iPhone 5 and Windows Phone 8 will surely create more trouble for the company in
coming days.
“I will not deliver a product to the market that is
not ready to meet the needs of our customers. There will be no compromise on
this issue,” said Heins. RIM’s top priority remains a successful launch of the
new BlackBerrys.
The jobs cuts are part of a previously announced
initiative to cut $1 billion in annual costs this year. They represent about 30
percent of RIM’s workforce of about 16,500.
“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,” Heins added.
