BlackBerry Loses £3.5bn In 2014, But Quarterly Losses Shrink
BlackBerry CEO John Chen says firm is ‘ahead of schedule’ in returning to profitability
BlackBerry has announced losses of $5.8 billion (£3.5bn) during its latest financial year, however it lost just $423 million (£254m) during the fourth quarter compared to the huge $4.4 billion (£2.7bn) loss it suffered during the previous quarter.
Over the course of the 2014 financial year, revenues fell by 38 percent from $11.1 billion (£6.8bn) to $6.8 billion (£4.1bn), while quarterly income dropped by 18 percent quarter-on-quarter to $796 million (£468m) – a 64 percent year-on-year fall from $2.7 billion (£1.6m).
The Canadian manufacturer says 3.4 million handsets were shipped to customers during the quarter, although 2.3 million of these were BlackBerry 7 devices, and it recognises revenue on around 1.9 million of the total number of devices.
BlackBerry results
BlackBerry CEO John Chen, who is implementing the latest restructuring initiative at the company, has declared himself pleased with the results, despite the ongoing slump in revenues.
“I am very pleased with our progress and execution in fiscal Q4 against the strategy we laid out three months ago,” he said. “We have significantly streamlined operations, allowing us to reach our expense reduction target one quarter ahead of schedule. BlackBerry is on sounder financial footing today with a path to returning to growth and profitability.”
Chen was appointed as CEO late last year and his tenure has already resulted in a series of management changes and streamlining initiatives. He says he expected BlackBerry to be profitable by the end of March 2016, thanks to a recovery plan focused on high-end smartphones for businesses, BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) 10, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) and QNX embedded software and connected cars.
It is hoped that this focus will allow BlackBerry, which was once considered the leader in the smartphone space, to recover some of the market share that has been ceded to Apple and Android manufacturers who have eroded the Canadian firm’s advantage in security features, while producing devices that are more attractive to users.
Will things improve for BlackBerry in 2014 Try our 2013 BlackBerry quiz!
