RIM首季虧損迫使黑莓10延期
????上周四,黑莓手機(BlackBerry)制造商動態研究公司(Research in Motion,RIM)宣布,公司第一財季的虧損遠遠高于預期,并將再次推遲發布外界期待已久的黑莓10操作系統,這讓原本就已經每況愈下的RIM公司進一步沉淪。 ????其實,RIM傳出虧損并不是什么出人意料的消息。就在上個月,公司剛上任不久的CEO托斯滕?海因斯就曾經警告稱,“較低的手機出貨量,以及市場競爭造成的價格促銷戰”,必將導致公司第一季度出現經營虧損,而且,未來幾個季度,公司的財務狀況仍將面臨巨大的壓力。 ????公司公布第一季度虧損5.18億美元,每股折合虧損0.99美元。公司第一財季營收28億美元,去年同一季度營收為49億美元,同比下降43%,遠遠低于分析師31億美元的預期。 ????公司方面稱,第一財季黑莓智能手機出貨量只有7,800萬臺,而黑莓PlayBook平板電腦的出貨量僅有可憐的260,000臺。此外,公司還宣布,為了削減成本,公司將裁員約5,000人。 ????海因斯在一份書面聲明中表示:“對于這樣的結果,我很不滿意,但我將繼續與公司各部門和董事會共同努力,采取積極措施以應對挑戰,其中包括資源重新配置,并將公司重心轉移到機會最大的領域。未來我們的第一要務是盡快發布第一款黑莓10設備,目前預計的時間是在2013年第一季度。此外,我們擁有7,800萬黑莓手機用戶,而且規模還在不斷擴大,我們擁有巨大的企業裝機基數,還有獨特的網絡架構和業內領先的安全技術,因此,除了推出黑莓10外,我們還將聘請顧問開展戰略評估,尋找途徑,更有效利用公司現有的資產,建立起我們的優勢。” ????在智能手機行業,RIM黑莓手機曾經一枝獨秀,但近幾年,公司的市場地位卻在急速下降。蘋果(Apple)iPhone手機和運行谷歌(Google)安卓系統的智能手機上市時,RIM管理層沒能快速采取應對措施,如今智能手機市場已經成了蘋果和谷歌的天下。 ????眼下,公司把黑莓10當成最后一根救命稻草,但這款手機操作系統的上市時間卻一拖再拖。上個月的業務匯報會上,CEO海因斯還信誓旦旦地表示,公司在多個方面取得了“顯著進展”,其中就包括黑莓10的開發,并稱其上市時間預計為今年年底;而在一季報中,他又將時間推遲到了2013年初。周四的投資者電話會議上,海因斯表示,事實證明,整合新功能,開發黑莓10軟件代碼,“都比想象中更具挑戰性,所需時間也超出預期。”預計,黑莓10最早將在2013年第一季度發布,因此,RIM必將錯過今年的假期銷售季。而且,屆時新iPhone手機和更多安卓設備均將上市,微軟(Microsoft)也將推出最新版本的Windows操作系統。 |
????BlackBerry maker Research in Motion reported a wider-than-expected loss and yet another delay of its long-awaited BlackBerry 10 operating system on Thursday, marking a new low point in the company's downward spiral. ????The bad news isn't entirely surprising. Just last month, newish CEO Thorsten Heins warned that "lower volumes and highly competitive pricing dynamics in the marketplace" would likely result in an operating loss for the quarter, and that the company's financial performance would continue to be challenged for the next few quarters. ????The company reported a first-quarter loss of $518 million, or 99 cents a share. Overall sales at the Waterloo, Ontario-based company came in at $2.8 billion, down 43% from $4.9 billion in the same quarter a year ago and considerably lower than analysts' expected first-quarter revenue of $3.1 billion. ????During the quarter, RIM says it shipped 7.8 million BlackBerry smartphones and a meager 260,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets. The company also announced cost-cutting efforts that will include a "workforce reduction" of about 5,000 employees. ????"I am not satisfied with these results and continue to work aggressively with all areas of the organization and the Board to implement meaningful changes to address the challenges, including a thoughtful realignment of resources and honing focus within the Company on areas that have the greatest opportunities," Heins said in a written statement. "Our top priority going forward is the successful launch of our first BlackBerry 10 device, which we now anticipate will occur in the first quarter of calendar 2013. In parallel with the roll out of BlackBerry 10, we are aggressively working with our advisors on our strategic review and are actively evaluating ways to better leverage our assets and build on our strengths, including our growing BlackBerry subscriber base of approximately 78 million, our large enterprise installed base, our unique network architecture and our industry leading security capabilities." ????RIM's (RIMM) BlackBerries once dominated the smartphone industry, but in recent years the company has been on a fast decline. Its management failed to react quickly to Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and devices running Google's (GOOG) Android operating system, which now rule the mobile market. ????The company's last hope is BlackBerry 10, but this isn't the first time the mobile operating system has been delayed. In his business update last month, CEO Heins said that the company had made "significant progress" on several fronts, like development on BlackBerry 10, which was expected to launch by end of this year and is now slated for early 2013. On a call with investors on Thursday, Heins said that the integration of new features and development of the BlackBerry 10's software code has "proven to be more challenging and time-consuming than anticipated." With BlackBerry 10 devices not expected to launch until the first quarter of 2013, RIM will miss out on this year's holiday sales season. In the meantime, a new iPhone and more Android devices are expected to launch, and Microsoft is expected to make a big push with the latest version of Windows. |