BlackBerry reports loss of $965 million in fiscal Q2

It's no secret that BlackBerry isn't doing too well, but no one knew just how bad until the company's just-released fiscal Q2 report. It highlights a whopping $935 million loss on the BlackBerry Z10.

The "Z10 inventory charge," a clever way to say that the device simply isn't selling, is enough to almost wipe out the listed $1.6 billion revenue. When combined with the corporate restructuring losses, the company posted an overall loss of some $965 million.

The Canadian-based company has struggled to post a profit since it dropped the RIM name and released its anticipated BB10 OS update. Its latest flagship, the BlackBerry Z10, has failed to make a significant impact, and the company continues to lose market share to more competitive Android, WP and iOS devices.

This news comes hot on the heels of the $4.7 billion buyout offer from one of their minor shareholder groups, Fairfax Financial Holdings, who own a 10% stake in the company.

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Unknown 09:41  No comment

BlackBerry’s co-founder rumored to consider a bid for the company

In lieu of the disastrous preliminary fiscal Q2 2014 results, a word got out about a surprising new potential option for the future of BlackBerry. According to The Wall Street Journal, Mike Lazaridis, the co-founder and former co-CEO of the struggling Canadian manufacturer is considering a bid to save his former company and take it private.

It is already a known fact that BlackBerry is looking for a buyer. Reportedly, Mr. Lazaridis has separately approached the private equity giants Blackstone Group and Carlyle Group about potentially making an offer for the company. However, talks on the subject have been preliminary, so nothing is certain.

A co-founder of BlackBerry in 1985, Mike Lazaridis is one of the company’s largest individual shareholders. His significant stake in the company will certainly matter in the bidding process.

Of course, it must also be noted that Mike Lazaridis, in a tandem with Jim Balsillie ran BlackBerry during the period when the company’s business took a bad turn. Mr. Lazaridis is viewed by many as a key factor for the current state of BlackBerry. Him and Jim Balsillie were replaced by the company’s current chief, Thorsten Heins in January 2012.

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Unknown 03:02  No comment

Android 4.3 update for HTC One is coming this month

HTC America's president Jason Mackenzie responded to some questions on Twitter concerning the HTC One upcoming Android 4.3 update.

He says the Android 4.3 development for the HTC One is right on schedule and the rollout will start by the end of this month as promised. This applies for both the US and the EU HTC One units.

Update: To lend further credibility to the rumors, the following image was sent to us by one of our readers. It shows the HTC One running Android 4.3. Allegedly, the image was shot at IFA. Thanks for the tip, Daki!

HTC One running Android 4.3 spotted at IFA 2013

It seems HTC will manage to seed the Android 4.3 update ahead of the competition. Samsung is supposed to bring that release to its 1H flagship in October, and Sony is yet to announce a schedule for the Xperia Z updates.

Thank you, geordieboy, for the tip!

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Unknown 23:29  No comment

BlackBerry Q10 cited to be a commercial failure by retailers

Phones with QWERTY keyboards have always been the strong suite of BlackBerry. Which is why when the company revamped their product portfolio with BB10 and the Z10, they decided to not forgo QWERTY phones altogether and launched the Q10 (and consequently the Q5).

Well, it seems that strategy isn't working out so well. According to The Wall Street Journal, who talked to retailers in the US and Canada, the Q10 is an unmitigated failure. There is no demand for the device and the retailers have had to return their stock.

One Canadian retailer even went as far as saying "I think we'd all say that the Q10, the one we all thought was going to be the savior, just hit the ground and died." And this is BlackBerry's home country we are talking about.

While this doesn't mean the all-touch Z10 are flying off the shelves things are looking particularly bleak for the keyboard based BlackBerries. Clearly the market for these devices has dwindled in the past and few would now want to waste precious space for a physical keyboard when they could have a large display instead.

BlackBerry now needs to rethink their strategy and assess if people really want to buy QWERTY BlackBerries anymore. Or simply BlackBerries, for that matter.

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Unknown 22:32  No comment