BlackBerry Reports Smaller Loss As Turnaround Continues

BlackBerry has posted a smaller than expected loss during the third quarter of 2015, with CEO John Chen confident that its service-focused strategy and devices running Android can help it continue its recovery.

The Canadian firm reported a net loss of $89 million (£60m) compared to the  $148 million (£99m) it lost during the same quarter last year as revenue slumped from $793 million (£531m) a year ago to $548 million (£367m) – however this still beat expectations

Positive Financials

Whilst on the surface the results don’t seem overly positive, it is worth remembering they include numerous charges, including pretax charges of $38 million (£25m) for restructuring and acquisition costs and amortization of intangibles of $18 million (£12m).

BlackBerry also said it generated $162 million (£108m) in software and services revenue. That was up from $74 million (£50m) in the second quarter.

“I am pleased with our continued progress on BlackBerry’s strategic priorities, leading to a 14 percent sequential growth in total revenue for Q3,” said Chen.

“We delivered accelerating growth in enterprise software and higher revenue across all our focus areas of focus,” he said. “Our new PRIV device has been well recieved since its launch in November, and we are expanding distribution to additional carriers around the world in the next several quarters.”

The turnaround efforts of Chen, including restructuring and acquisitions, seems to be helping the company increase sales. BlackBerry itself is also now increasingly focusing on mobile device-management software and new smartphones, including its first ever Android-powered smartphone (the PRIV).

Device Uncertainty

The PRIV could be a make or break device for BlackBerry, in light of its continuing struggles to clamber back into the mobile device market.

Last month a new analyst report showed that the company’s market share had fallen yet again, and is now smaller than that of devices running Samsung’s Tizen OS. But that before the arrival of the PRIV device. The uncertainty was not helped in the summer, when Chen hinted that BlackBerry could stop manufacturing devices as part of its ongoing recovery strategy.

The development comes as Chen slammed other technology firms, specifically Apple, for refusing to work with governments on “lawful access requests”.  He said privacy should not be extended to criminals.

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