BlackBerry-maker RIM warns of layoffs, operating loss

Struggling BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion warned Tuesday that it will have an operating loss in its current March-June quarter and said there will be significant layoffs this year.

RIM also said in a release that it has hired J.P. Morgan and RBC Capital Markets to help the company evaluate various strategies, including opportunities to partner with other companies and license software as well as other alternatives.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM made no mention of a sale of the company but new chief executive Thorsten Heins did not rule it out after RIM's last earnings were released in late March.

"It's a disaster, it's bad," Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said. "The problem is you can't see a path to a sale until you stabilize the business."

Misek said if the advisers weren't brought in to consider a sale originally they are likely considering it now. Misek expects RIM to announce as many as 5,000 layoffs soon.

RIM's stock was halted in after-hours trading Tuesday. When trading resumed shares fell more than 10 percent, or $1.20, to $10.03.

The once-iconic RIM, the company that pioneered the smartphone market with its Blackberry phones, is facing the most difficult period in its history. RIM's U.S. share of smartphones dropped from 44 percent in 2009 to 10 percent in 2011, according to market researcher NPD Group. The company still has 78 million active subscribers across the globe, but Apple and Android phone makers such as Samsung and HTC are taking market share.

The company is working on the launch of a new software operating system, but that's happening just as North Americans are abandoning their BlackBerry's for flashier and more versatile smartphones like Apple's iPhone and phones that run Google's Android software.

"The on-going competitive environment is impacting our business in the form of lower volumes and highly competitive pricing dynamics in the marketplace, and we expect our (current quarter's) results to reflect this, and likely result in an operating loss for the quarter," new chief executive Thorsten Heins said.

Heins, formerly a little known chief operating officer at RIM, took over in January after RIM founder Mike Lazaridis and longtime executive Jim Balsillie stepped down as Co-CEOs after the company lost tens of billions in market value.

RIM said there will be staff reductions among its 16,500 employees and significant spending cuts as the company looks to save a $1 billion — even as it transitions to its much-delayed "BlackBerry 10" software platform expected out later this year.

RIM reiterated that its financial performance will continue to be challenged for the next few quarters.

Misek believes that had BlackBerry 10 been released last year, the company might have had a chance, but he said now RIM is likely to release the new BlackBerrys right when Apple is due to introduce a new iPhone.

Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Financial, called it a downward slide that's not going to get any better. Gillis said he doesn't see any buyers for RIM coming forward soon.

Gillis said the advisers are likely presenting a number of options, including a sale, split up of the software and hardware business or a continued attempt to turn the company round. Gillis said RIM could license something like its popular BlackBerry messenger service.

"Unfortunately, it falls into the too little, too late category," Gillis said. "It doesn't mean somebody won't try it. It doesn't mean it's going to be a savior for the company either."

Gillis believes RIM is fighting against some of the best talent in the world in Google, Apple and Samsung in a fast-moving marketplace.

"They were the leader and this is what happens in the technology cycle of creation and destruction. They rode the first wave of the smartphone revolution and Apple is riding the next one," Gillis said.

BlackBerrys lag iPhones and Android phones when it comes to third-party applications or "apps," small software programs that perform one or two tasks like editing mobile photos or displaying sports scores. The iPhone's popularity has continued to skyrocket as Apple has developed a vast ecosystem of apps. Now, RIM must persuade developers that it's worth their time and effort to make apps for the BlackBerry 10 platform.

RIM has tried to make showier phones with touchscreens that resemble the iPhone's, but those offerings have largely flopped. And so has RIM's tablet, the PlayBook, which uses the very software that will be in the newBlackBerry 10 smartphones.

RIM is following the same trajectory as struggling Finnish handset makers Nokia and California-based Palm, both of which attracted consumers with trend-setting phones and technologies in their heyday, only to be outmaneuvered by competitors. In Canada, there is fear that the nation's biggest technology company could go the way of former Canadian tech giant Nortel, which declared bankruptcy in 2009 and was picked over for its patents.

"It is a very bad situation for Canada, primarily because this was the national champion," Misek said. "What this illustrates is you have to be globally competitive and you've got to remain globally competitive."