BlackBerry shipped 2.7 million BB10 devices last quarter, stock plunges

[Jos]

June 1st marked the end of the first full quarter since BlackBerry 10 and the Z10 became available. Naturally, both analysts and investors were anticipating to see some signs of a turnaround, but instead it was a surprise quarterly loss and lower-than-projected sales. In all, the Canadian firm sold 2.7 million BB10 devices during the quarter, saw its subscriber base fall by 4 million, and reported an $84 million loss on revenue of $3.1 billion.

Revenue is actually up 9 percent from the same period the year ago, but the company still missed analysts’ average estimates of $0.07 earnings per share on revenue of $3.4 billion.

The number of BlackBerry 10 devices sold represents 40 percent of the company’s total 6.8 million shipments for the quarter, which means its older BlackBerry 7 devices still outsold its newer smartphone lineup. To put that number into perspective, Apple sold more than 37 million iPhones last quarter.

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins reminded people during the quarterly earnings call that they're only five months in to the launch of BB10, and changing the company’s fortunes will require a lot of work and patience. Investors are not known for the latter though and have already sent the company’s share value down ~25% this morning.

Heins also said he anticipates an operating loss in the following quarter given the “highly competitive" smartphone market. Aside from struggling to compete on the high-end, the company faces price pressure in Latin America and South Asia, where Asian manufacturers are flooding the market with low-cost Android devices.

The company also put the final nail in the coffin for its long-struggling PlayBook tablet by confirming it would not be updated to the new BlackBerry 10 platform, focusing its efforts on core devices instead.

The news follow a brief swing back to profit last quarter when the company made $94 million on revenue of $2.7 billion. BlackBerry’s long-term strategy is still a mystery but recent moves taking Secure Work Space and BBM to rival iOS and Android platforms suggests it could eventually become a software and services company. For now, BlackBerry will remain "an end-to-end solution, including the device," according to Heins.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/53065-blackberry-shipped-27-million-bb10-devices-last-quarter-stock-plunges.html

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

I'd call Blackberry the 3rd wheel of the smartphone market, but that title belongs to Microsoft I believe. Blackberry just seems so far behind in the race they're trying to not get lapped. From what I've read that new BB isn't half bad either.

 

[Guest]

Embarassing that you can make 3 billion and no profit... time to give up

 

[Littleczr]

They needed a killer feature that made it worth buying the phone. Unfortunately, they had none. You could pretty much get everything on HTC or Samsung and even iphone.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Eh, that stinks. I feel like BB had its days and those days have past. They should have developed BB10 at least 2-3 years ago.

 

[Timonius]

Maybe they can develop special facial recognition of a 'raspberry' to do some crazy thing. Maybe then more people will buy one. ;p

 

[coppersloane]

We live in a society where if a company doesn't make enough money, people laugh at them. And if enough people laugh at them, people who would have otherwise bought their product, will not, for fear that they'll be laughed at or shunned.

Right now my phone is pinging me updates on G+ where people are 'lol'ing and lmao'ing at BlackBerry and Windows Phone for not being as popular as iPhone and Android. What kind of *****, unless he or she is a shareholder, cares about how much a company makes? Unless it's out of a desire to see them stick around long enough to make more products?

It's the same with movies. X and Y movie was a financial failure, so lol and lmao at it, and never buy a ticket, even if the reviews are positive.

People are growing dumber by the day. It's a shame these devices and their companies suffer because they don't have minds of their own. They're selling products to a Hive Mind mentality, where if the core doesn't agree, the drones certainly will not.

How do you cater to such an inane populous?

 

[captaincranky]

....[ ]..... What kind of *****, unless he or she is a shareholder, cares about how much a company makes? Unless it's out of a desire to see them stick around long enough to make more products?

Oh stop, a company losing money, or teetering on the brink of bankruptcy always undermines consumer confidence.

First, people are bandwagon prone, and are always fans of the person or team that's winning.

Brand recognition is, and always has been, at the heart, a popularity contest.

And second, the question of, "where the heck am I going to get parts for this turd", if the company goes bust, is always in the back of people's minds,.

(This despite most modern electronics are throwaways anyway, since it would cost way more in bench time to repair, than to buy another one).

Then too, when a quarterly profit report shows a loss, hysteria sets in, and the sharks, rogues, knaves, and parasites on Wall Street, are always ready to engage in a feeding frenzy.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

I don't suppose they're doing a bad job but people believe the bad before they believe the good.

 

[Modeazy]

We live in a society where if a company doesn't make enough money, people laugh at them. And if enough people laugh at them, people who would have otherwise bought their product, will not, for fear that they'll be laughed at or shunned.

Right now my phone is pinging me updates on G+ where people are 'lol'ing and lmao'ing at BlackBerry and Windows Phone for not being as popular as iPhone and Android. What kind of *****, unless he or she is a shareholder, cares about how much a company makes? Unless it's out of a desire to see them stick around long enough to make more products?

It's the same with movies. X and Y movie was a financial failure, so lol and lmao at it, and never buy a ticket, even if the reviews are positive.

People are growing dumber by the day. It's a shame these devices and their companies suffer because they don't have minds of their own. They're selling products to a Hive Mind mentality, where if the core doesn't agree, the drones certainly will not.

How do you cater to such an inane populous?

Very true coppersloane, like I got laughed at for buying a Nexus 7 instead of an Ipad mini, its really weird. Now I must allow crowd mentality to dictate my personal tastes or risk falling out with 'Them'.

I'm laughing at them.

 

[LinkedKube]

Oh stop, a company losing money, or teetering on the brink of bankruptcy always undermines consumer confidence.

First, people are bandwagon prone, and are always fans of the person or team that's winning.

Brand recognition is, and always has been, at the heart, a popularity contest.

And second, the question of, "where the heck am I going to get parts for this turd", if the company goes bust, is always in the back of people's minds,.

(This despite most modern electronics are throwaways anyway, since it would cost way more in bench time to repair, than to buy another one).

Then too, when a quarterly profit report shows a loss, hysteria sets in, and the sharks, rogues, knaves, and parasites on Wall Street, are always ready to engage in a feeding frenzy.

CC I'll give you this one because your puns are great. With that said I feel sorry for BB. They're trying to occupy a market that they once had a strong hold of. This news isn't terrible tbh. You can't expect Samsung numbers or even apple numbers from BB. They're still worth a couple Billion. I think this is just a quick-pro quote on their upswing. They have always been a niche market. I hope they find those customers once again!