Post date: Jun 29, 2012 11:26:47 PM
Shares of the company, which also announced a steeper-than-expected quarterly operating loss and deep job cuts on Thursday (June 28), plunged 14 percent after it said it would release its revamped BlackBerry 10 devices early in 2013. It conceded the development had "proven to be more time-consuming than anticipated."
The delay in releasing the devices - RIM's last best hope of stemming its eclipse at the hands of Apple Inc's iPhone and phones using Google Inc's Android software - confirmed the worst fears of analysts and investors.
Canadian company RIM delays the launch of its new BlackBerry phones until 2013, in a devastating setback to the once-dominant technology company that some say could be in significant decline.
WATERLOO, ONTARIO, CANADA (FILE - MAY 30, 2012) (CBC) - Research In Motion Ltd delayed the make-or-break launch of its next-generation BlackBerry phones until next year, in a devastating setback to the once-dominant technology company whose sales are crumbling.
The size of the loss, RIM's first in eight years, and the likelihood that sales will keep sliding into 2013, severely reduce the options for the company if it is to survive.
RIM's announcement that it would slash 5,000 jobs, or 30 percent of its workforce, only reinforced the impression of a company that could be in terminal decline.
RIM, which virtually invented mobile email, has fallen from a leadership position to an also-ran in smartphones over a few years filled with delayed and uninspiring products, service outages and other embarrassments.