RIM to cut 5,000 jobs, delay new phone launch

TORONTO - The Associated Press

After several delays, the first phone with BlackBerry 10 was expected this year. It will be delayed even longer, to the first quarter of 2013, RIM CEO Heins (above) says. REUTERS photo

Struggling BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. said it will delay the launch of new phones deemed critical to the company’s survival and revealed its business is crumbling faster than thought.

The Canadian company posted results June 28 for its latest quarter that were worse than analysts had expected. It’s cutting 5,000 jobs and unexpectedly delaying the launch of its new phone operating system, BlackBerry 10, until after the holiday shopping season.

After several delays, the first phone with BlackBerry 10 was expected later this year. It will be delayed even longer, to the first quarter of next year, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins said.

The delay comes as North Americans are abandoning BlackBerrys for iPhones and Android phones. Analysts have long said the new BlackBerrys will come out too late to reverse RIM’s fortunes. RIM was banking its future on the new BlackBerry 10 system, which is meant to offer the multimedia, Internet browsing and apps experience that customers now demand.

Now it will come out months after a new iPhone is expected to be released. Current and previous iPhones have made the BlackBerry look ancient.

Heins had vowed to do everything he could to release BlackBerry 10 this year but he said Thursday that the timetable simply was not realistic. He said RIM’s top priority remains a successful launch of the new BlackBerrys. “I will not deliver a product to the market that is not ready to meet the needs of our customers,” Heins said on a conference call with analysts. “There will be no compromise on this issue.”

30 pct of workforce cut

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,” Heins said. “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.”

RIM lost $518 million, or 99 cents a share, in its fiscal first quarter, which ended June 2. That compares with a profit of $695 million, or $1.33 per share, a year ago.

Revenue fell 43 percent to $2.8 billion, well below analyst expectations at $3.1 billion.

RIM said it shipped just 7.8 million BlackBerry smartphones in the quarter, down 41 percent from 13.2 million a year earlier.

Heins said the company is expecting the next several quarters to be “very challenging.”