The BlackBerry Q4 FY 2014 financial results are out this morning and it’s clear that the company is still fighting for its survival. Revenues for its Q4 FY2014 came in at US$976 million, down US$217 or 18% over the previous quarter’s revenues of US$1.2 billion and down 64% from US$2.7 billion the same quarter a year ago. That was enough to swing the company to a net loss of US$423 million after tax benefits for the quarter.
BlackBerry sold only 1.3 million BlackBerry smartphones in its latest quarter. A year ago, it had sold 1.9 million in the same quarter. It added that about 3.4 million BlackBerry smartphones made their way into consumer hands, indicating that channels are still selling a lot of devices bought in the previous quarters. More worrisome is that BlackBerry 10 devices continue so sell poorly; they were once again outsold by aging BlackBerry 7 devices. Only 1.1 million BlackBerry 10 devices were bought by consumers last quarter.
“I am very pleased with our progress and execution in fiscal Q4 against the strategy we laid out three months ago. We have significantly streamlined operations, allowing us to reach our expense reduction target one quarter ahead of schedule,” said John Chen, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BlackBerry. “BlackBerry is on sounder financial footing today with a path to returning to growth and profitability.”
BlackBerry continues to streamline its operations as it adjusts to its new reality. It has now managed to reduce operating expenses by 51% from Q1 FY2014. It warned that it’s not done either. It is also still sitting on a cash balance of US$2.7 billion but that’s down about US$553 million from the previous quarter.
Despite the grim news, BlackBerry still expects to reach “break even cash flow results” by the end of its 2015 fiscal year. Its strategy will see it focus more on services and software but it is not giving up on its hardware business either. It’s clear though that the path ahead for BlackBerry is far from an easy one.
Source : BlackBerry