BlackBerry Cuts 200 Jobs To Trim Costs
BlackBerry is cutting 200 jobs at its headquarters in Ontario and in Florida in order to trim costs, it said on Friday, as the smartphone maker puts more emphasis on its enterprise software business. "As BlackBerry continues to execute its turnaround plan, we remain focused on driving efficiencies across our global workforce," the company said in a statement.
The company also confirmed that Gary Klassen is one of the people who has departed in the latest round of cuts. Klassen was the inventor of its BBM messaging service.
An unnamed source told Reuters that many of the Canadian cuts were people working on its BB10 handset software at its Waterloo, Ontario, headquarters.
On the other hand, BlackBerry did not say which divisions will be affected by the cuts, and repeated its commitment to release further updates on its BB10 software.
The company began releasing the BB10-based devices in January 2013, but despite positive reviews the smartphones failed to win back market share from Apple's iPhone, and the slew of Android-based devices that dominate the global market.
In a final attempt to revive its handset business BlackBerry released its first Android-based device in November. It has stated it plans to release at least one more Android-based phone this year.