BlackBerry may cut 40% of jobs

TORONTO-- Struggling smartphone maker BlackBerry could cut its workforce by up to 40 per cent by the end of the year, media reports said on Thursday, even as the company launched a flagship smartphone intended to revive its fortunes.

The layoffs will cut across all departments and will occur in waves, likely affecting several thousand employees, the reports cited industry insiders as saying. BlackBerry had 12,700 employees as of end-March, down from more than 17,000 two years ago.

“Clearly the game is over for them, though it’s coming a little quicker than I expected,” said Charter Equity analyst Edward Snyder. “Cutting half your staff, that’s pretty much the end for them.”

The cuts come as the once-dominant Canadian firm looks for ways to get a handle on costs and shrink its operations to better fit a world in which competitors such as Apple and Samsung Electronics have eaten deeply into its market share.

“Organisational moves will continue to occur to ensure we have the right people in the right roles to drive new opportunities in mobile computing,” a BlackBerry spokesman said. The spokesman declined to comment on the 40 per cent figure.

BlackBerry introduced launched the Z30 at a small event in Malaysia yesterday, a top-of-the-line smartphone intended to help it wrestle its way back into the intensely competitive market.

The company said last month it was weighing options that could include an outright sale of the firm. AGENCIES