BlackBerry smartphone maker Research In Motion Ltd’s (RIM) latest results underscored the company’s inability to compete with Apple Inc’s iPhone or smartphones that run Google Inc’s Android operating system, as the Canadian company said it has been hurt by product delays. Shares fell more than 14 percent in after-hours trading.
RIM said on Thursday net income and revenue declined in the latest quarter. It is also cutting an unspecified number of jobs to reduce costs. It gave an outlook well below Wall Street’s expectations for the current quarter and the full year.
“The existing portfolio of BlackBerry products has been in market for close to a year and delivering new products has proven more challenging than anticipated,” one of RIM’s chief executives, Jim Balsillie, said on a conference call with analysts.
Co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis made a rare appearance on the conference call as the two defended the business and their role as co-chief executives.
For the three months ending on May 28, RIM earned US$695 million, or US$1.33 per share, down from US$769 million, or US$1.38 per share a year ago.
Revenue for the fiscal first quarter rose 16 percent to US$4.9 billion from US$4.2 billion.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of US$1.32 per share on revenue of US$5.1 billion.
RIM is facing fierce competition from the iPhone and Android smartphones.
For the current quarter, RIM forecast earnings of US$0.75 to US$1.05 per share. Analysts are looking for far higher earnings of US$1.36 per share. The company expects revenue of US$4.2 billion to US$4.8 billion, below analysts’ average expectation of nearly US$5.3 billion. RIM lowered its full-year earnings outlook sharply. It now expects earnings of US$5.25 to US$6 per share for the next fiscal year. In April, it had forecast US$7.50 per share.
RIM said earlier on Thursday that chief operating officer Don Morrison is going on medical leave.
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