Blackberry, the former smartphone giant, cannot compete
with Apple and Samsung anymore. How did Blackberry hit rock bottom? In the last
three months, the Canadian company reported a $965 million loss for the second
semester due to poor sales of its new mobile phone: the Z10. That’s why
Blackberry announced that 4500 jobs will be cut by the end of the year.
Fairfax, BB’s main shareholder, offered $4.7 billion to buy the Canadian
smartphone maker.
Another failure that costs nearly one billion dollars
In 2008, Blackberry was one of the three biggest smartphone makers but today, the two other giants of the market, Apple and Samsung, do not think about the Canadian creator anymore. In order to revive their fortunes Blackberry decided to launch its new mobile phone, the Z10, three months ago. Unfortunately, it led to the end of the company.
Blackberry reported a $965 million (712 million euros) loss due to the disappointing sales of the Z10. Supposed to relaunch the company, only 3.7 million Z10 were sold between June and September, representing a $1.6 billion profit compared to the $3.1 billion made in 2012: a near 50% fall in its turnover. In order to stem those losses, the leaders of the company announced that 4,500 jobs will be cut by the end of the year, which represents 40% of their worldwide workforce.
Fairfax to buy Blackberry for $4.7 billion
Evaluated at $80 billion in 2008, Blackberry is valued at today only $4.7 billion. Fairfax, Blackberry's largest shareholder, already owns 10% of the company and offered to pay $9 for each share of the smartphone marker: a ridiculous price compared to the $147.55 that Blackberry registered during its peak in June 2008.
"We hope the new Canadian owners of Blackberry can revive this Canadian champion, save the high-skilled jobs and promote Canadian innovation globally”, declared MPChris Charlton, the NDP industry critic.
The offer from Fairfax seems to have been accepted by Blackberry but we will have to wait until November 4th to have an official version.
Blackberry's decision to launch the Z10 in June just confirmed the doubts that we had - Blackberry is not the leader that it was a few years ago. The sales failed and it made the company hit the bottom. Prem Watsa, Fairfax´s CEO, will probably be at the head of the company in a few months with the task to revive the former Canadian leader. This task will be difficult to complete even more when we know that Apple, BB’s main competitor, sold more than 9 million iPhone 5s in only 24 hours.
I.LOPEZ
Another failure that costs nearly one billion dollars
In 2008, Blackberry was one of the three biggest smartphone makers but today, the two other giants of the market, Apple and Samsung, do not think about the Canadian creator anymore. In order to revive their fortunes Blackberry decided to launch its new mobile phone, the Z10, three months ago. Unfortunately, it led to the end of the company.
Blackberry reported a $965 million (712 million euros) loss due to the disappointing sales of the Z10. Supposed to relaunch the company, only 3.7 million Z10 were sold between June and September, representing a $1.6 billion profit compared to the $3.1 billion made in 2012: a near 50% fall in its turnover. In order to stem those losses, the leaders of the company announced that 4,500 jobs will be cut by the end of the year, which represents 40% of their worldwide workforce.
Fairfax to buy Blackberry for $4.7 billion
Evaluated at $80 billion in 2008, Blackberry is valued at today only $4.7 billion. Fairfax, Blackberry's largest shareholder, already owns 10% of the company and offered to pay $9 for each share of the smartphone marker: a ridiculous price compared to the $147.55 that Blackberry registered during its peak in June 2008.
"We hope the new Canadian owners of Blackberry can revive this Canadian champion, save the high-skilled jobs and promote Canadian innovation globally”, declared MPChris Charlton, the NDP industry critic.
The offer from Fairfax seems to have been accepted by Blackberry but we will have to wait until November 4th to have an official version.
Blackberry's decision to launch the Z10 in June just confirmed the doubts that we had - Blackberry is not the leader that it was a few years ago. The sales failed and it made the company hit the bottom. Prem Watsa, Fairfax´s CEO, will probably be at the head of the company in a few months with the task to revive the former Canadian leader. This task will be difficult to complete even more when we know that Apple, BB’s main competitor, sold more than 9 million iPhone 5s in only 24 hours.
I.LOPEZ
Sources: all the statistics which have been given in this article are from www.thetimes.co.uk and www.lemonde.fr
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