The bad news continues for BlackBerry. The company today confirmed that it cut another 100 positions yesterday in what it calls the second phase of its transformation plan. Without confirming specific numbers, BlackBerry did confirm the cuts with the following statement:
“As previously stated, we are in the second phase of our transformation plan. As such, this week’s employee reductions, demonstrates another step forward to scale our company correctly for new opportunities in mobile computing.
Our evolution as a company is ongoing and is in no way easy, but we are realistic about what is required to move our transformation forward in a timely manner. We will be as transparent as possible as our plans evolve.”
The announcement follows a recent job cut that saw 250 Waterloo-region testing facility employees get laid off.
As if that was not enough, Jefferies analyst Peter Misek suggests that BlackBerry has also cut production of BlackBerry 10 devices again, this time by 10 percent, just weeks after a previous cut last month. He also found that BlackBerry Q5 sales in Canada were off to a “slow start” after their launch last week. On a more positive note, he sees some “pent up” demand on the enterprise side but companies may be holding off making significant purchases as they try to determine whether BlackBerry will be able to survive the current turmoil.
BlackBerry just announced that it had begun an “exploration of strategic alternatives” to determine what options were available to the company. Among these could be an outright sale or a partnership.
Sources : The Globe and Mail // The Globe and Mail (2)