Research In Motion today announced its fiscal Q4 and 2012 year-end financial results. It reported Q4 revenues of US$4.2 billion, down from US$5.6 billion the same quarter a year ago. This translated to a loss of US$125 million (US$0.24 per share). Revenues for the year were US$18.4 billion, down 7% from US$19.9 billion over the previous year.
RIM shipped approximately 11.1 million BlackBerry smartphones and over 500,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets in its fiscal Q4 2012. It has now shipped a total of 1,350,000 Playbooks. Its subscriber base grew to 77 million users, a small increase from the 75 million it had last quarter.
RIM also expects “continued pressure” on its revenues and earnings through its 2013 fiscal year. In response to a “a desire to focus on long term value creation and the current business environment,” it also announced that it would no longer provide quantitative guidance.
Aside from its ongoing focus on the upcoming BlackBerry 10, RIM’s new CEO, Thorsten Heins said that the company will engage in “a comprehensive review of strategic opportunities including partnerships and joint ventures, licensing, and other ways to leverage RIM’s assets.” Another thing he said he was open to on the analyst call that followed was a takeover bid.
The grim financial news was topped by the revelation that Jim Balsillie, who had recently stepped down as co-CEO, has now also resigned from the board of directors. He was followed by CTO David Yach and COO Jim Rowan who also left the company. The Globe and Mail is also reporting that RIM today laid off a number of executives at the senior vice-president and vice-president levels were layed off today. “Lots of high level people within RIM were let go today. Quite a few. Big shake up.” said a source close to the company.
It appears that 2012 could be as difficult for RIM as 2011 was. Hopefully BlackBerry 10 will allow the company to end on an optimistic note.
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