BlackBerry Misses Sales Estimates; Stops Making Smartphones
- CFO James Yersh replaced by Steve Capelli from SAP’s Sybase
- Software revenue down sequentially, profit was break even
A Blackberry Curve 9300.
Photographer: Simon Dawson/BloombergBlackBerry Ltd. reported fiscal second-quarter sales that missed analyst estimates and said it will stop making its iconic smartphones and focus on its software business. The shares rose in premarket trading in New York.
BlackBerry has completely outsourced smartphone design and production, a process that Chen had been doing piecemeal since taking over as CEO almost three years ago. Analysts had been holding their breath for the news after Chen said September was his deadline for making the chronically money-losing device business profitable. BlackBerry’s device business, which it calls "Mobility Solutions," will focus on developing applications and an extra-secure version of Google’s Android operating system that it can license to other companies.