OTTAWA At their peak, just a few years ago, BlackBerry smartphones were symbols of corporate and political power. When President Obama took office he made keeping his BlackBerry a personal priority, and when BlackBerry service had a hiccup so did business on Wall Street.
But after being upstaged time and again by industry rivals, the devices may soon remain only in memories.
On Friday, BlackBerry announced that it would lay off 4,500 employees, or nearly 40 percent of its already reduced work force. The cut is so deep some analysts and investors said that the company’s days as a smartphone maker were effectively over.
The company also said that it expected to report a quarterly loss of nearly $1 billion next week, mainly the result of a write-off of unsold BlackBerry phones, but also because of payments to stop manufacturers and suppliers from adding to the pile. And of its six phones that the company offers, two will be discontinued.
Read also:
BlackBerry's downfall came down to apps (USA TODAY)
Bad news from BlackBerry: 4500 jobs to be cut, expected Q2 net operating loss … (Engadget)
BlackBerry to fire 4500, write down $ 960 million in inventory (Los Angeles Times)
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