The bad news for RIM: it lost nearly $US200 million (adjusted) last quarter. The worse news: it’s now letting 5000 employees go on top of the 2000 cuts that had been previously announced. The very worst news: its BlackBerry 10 operating system has been pushed back until next year.
This is an unmitigated disaster.
Look, companies lose money all the time. It’s rough economy and a competitive space. It happens. But what’s crucial during times like that is to have a clear way out. The only chance RIM had at surviving as a standalone company was for BB10 — which remains promising, if not revolutionary — to lead a BlackBerry renaissance. Waiting until later in the year, as had been previously indicated, was pushing it. Waiting until 2013 is suicidal.