There won’t be too many more of these headlines, I’m afraid. I was in the shower when the news came out that trading was halted on BlackBerry shares, but got the heads-up from Longtime Sharp VodkaPundit Reader™, and all-round good-drinking guy, Greg Hill. Here’s why NASDAQ froze trading:
— Company expects GAAP net operating loss of approximately $950 million to $995 million; loss includes a primarily non-cash, pre-tax inventory charge of approximately $930 million to $960 million resulting from the increasingly competitive business environment impacting BlackBerry smartphone volumes, and a pre-tax restructuring charge of $72 million
— Company expects to report revenue for the second quarter of approximately $1.6 billion; recognizes sales of approximately 3.7 million smartphones in the second quarter
They’re cutting 4,500 jobs, which is about 40% of their workforce. BlackBerry’s unit sales fell almost in half since the first quarter. And that was after releasing all-new phones, I might add.
The company plans to focus on prosumer sales and on services. But what unique service do they offer, now that every smartphone in the world can get secure(-ish) email via Exchange, and without having to rely on BlackBerry’s sometimes-fickle servers? And prosumers are already buying either iPhones or the better built Android models from Samsung.
It’s hard to see how they bounce back from six years of obtuseness and failed efforts.
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