BlackBerry Ltd. (BB) will start sellingits largest smartphone yet in the U.K. and Middle East nextweek, the latest step in a bid to turn around the strugglingCanadian device maker.
The Z30, which has a 5-inch touch screen and is based on anewer version of the BlackBerry 10 operating system, wasunveiled today at a Kuala Lumpur event, according to astatement. Prices will be announced by the phone’s carriers.
The company is counting on its new range of BlackBerry 10phones to deliver a return to sales growth and profitability asit tries to regain market share from Apple Inc. (AAPL) and SamsungElectronics Co. (005930) Sales two quarters ago missed analyst estimatesby almost 1 million units, and Waterloo, Ontario-basedBlackBerry said last month it would consider putting itself upfor sale or forging new partnerships.
BlackBerry, which traditionally made devices featuring aphysical keyboard, in January unveiled the Z10 with a 4.2-inchtouch screen that more closely resembled handsets like theiPhone. The Z30 has a 1.7-gigahertz processor, stereo speakersto improve conversation quality, and the largest battery everbuilt into a BlackBerry.
The stock fell 1.5 percent to $10.40 at the close in NewYork. The shares have dropped 12 percent this year and remainmore than 90 percent below their 2008 high. BlackBerry willreport fiscal second-quarter earnings on Sept. 27.
The worldwide mobile-phone market is forecast to grow 7.3percent to pass 1 billion units for the first time this year,according to researcher IDC.
Apple, Google
BlackBerry, which already trailed Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android andApple’s iOS operating systems, also fell behind MicrosoftCorp. (MSFT)’s Windows Phone in the first half of this year, IDC said.BlackBerry’s operating system will account for 2.7 percent ofsmartphones this year, declining to 1.7 percent by 2017, IDCsaid.
“BlackBerry OS share will decline markedly over theforecast due to tepid BlackBerry 10 reception and emboldenedcompetition that are expected to whittle away share in itsremaining regional bastions of strength, such as Africa, LatinAmerica, and the Middle East,” IDC said this month.
Constrained by its shrinking market share, BlackBerry saidin May it would begin offering its BBM instant-messagingsoftware as a free application on its bigger rivals’ devices.The app will be available Sept. 21 for Android and the followingday for iPhone, BlackBerry said today in a separate statement.
Upgrade Delay
Morgan Stanley (MS) is holding off on upgrading its employees toBlackBerry 10 because of concerns the company may not be aroundlong-term to support the platform, two people with knowledge ofthe bank’s plans said last month.
BlackBerry may cut as much as 40 percent of its staff bythe end of this year, the Wall Street Journal reported today.The job reductions will be across the company and will happen instages, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with thematter.
BlackBerry had about 12,700 employees in March, the lasttime the company gave a payroll figure, after Chief ExecutiveOfficer Thorsten Heins cut 5,000 jobs in 2012 to save $1 billionin operating costs. Adam Emery, a spokesman for the company,declined to comment specifically on the 40 percent figure, whichwould be the equivalent of about 5,000 jobs.
“Organizational moves will continue to occur to ensure wehave the right people in the right roles to drive newopportunities in mobile computing,” the company said in an e-mailed statement.
0 comments