黑莓要扭转颓势面临艰巨的挑战

    黑莓公司（BlackBerry Ltd.）这一周十分忙碌——公司推出了一款名为Passport的智能手机，季度财报显示的亏损额度也有所减少。不过这些美好的新闻是否预示着黑莓即将迎来转机呢？

    未必见得。这家位于加拿大的公司在上周五的报告中确认，在截至8月30日的季度中，公司共卖出了210万部智能手机，这与苹果（Apple）在iPhone 6和iPhone 6 Plus上市后第一个周末的1,000万部销量相比，只是个很小的数字。黑莓的季度收入为9.16亿美元，同比下降了42%。

    再看看那些过去的纪录：在第一代iPhone诞生的2007年，苹果花了74天才卖出100万部手机，而就在大概同一时期，黑莓在一个季度中就卖出了300万部产品。

    当然，这个时运大逆转并不令人惊讶。根据国际数据公司（International Data Corporation）的数据，目前黑莓在全球智能手机市场的份额还不到1%，远低于苹果的约12%。而就在三年前，黑莓的市场份额为13.6%，甚至强于今天的苹果，由此可见智能手机制造商一旦失宠，形势将恶化得多快。

    黑莓正希望借4.5英寸方屏手机Passport的推出改变这一切。公司表示该产品的大屏幕和应用软件十分适合那些已经转用其他设备的专业人士。正如《财富》（Fortune）上个月所报道的，黑莓希望政府、金融和医疗界的人员能够发现这款设备非同寻常的规格很适合他们的工作。

    根据科技资讯网站CNET的报道，Passport开局态势良好，发布至今已经有了20万部的订单。

    投资者之前曾相信黑莓能够复苏并买入该公司的股票，将被证明是个错误的决定。黑莓在2013年发布新款操作系统Blackberry 10之前的几个月，公司股价一路攀升。投资者押下重注，认为黑莓（那时候公司还叫Research in Motion）的计划能够成功，使得其股价在去年6月发布季度财报前的12个月中上涨了59%。然而由于黑莓Z10手机的销量不如人意，财报发布后股价重挫了28%。（财富中文网）

    译者：严匡正

    BlackBerry Ltd. has had a busy week — it debuted a new smartphone called the Passport and reported a narrower quarterly loss. But do those rosy headlines suggest a turnaround is underway?

    Not necessarily. The Canada-based company on Friday reported it recognized hardware revenue on about 2.1 million smartphones for the quarter ended Aug. 30, a tiny figure compared to the over 10 million smartphones Apple AAPL 2.94% sold over the weekend after the debut of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. BlackBerry’s quarterly revenue plunged 42% to $916 million from the year-ago level.

    And for those keeping score: back when Apple debuted its first iPhone in 2007, it took 74 days to ship its one millionth smartphone. BlackBerry managed to ship over 3 million devices in a quarter over roughly the same time period.

    Of course, this reversal of fortunes isn’t a surprise. BlackBerry’s worldwide smartphone market share is under 1%, according to data from research firm International Data Corporation, far less than Apple’s hold on about 12% of the market. BlackBerry’s market share was a far more sturdy 13.6% just three years ago, signifying just how quickly things can turn sour for a smartphone maker when it falls out of favor.

    BlackBerry BBRY 4.69% is hoping to change all that with the launch of its 4.5-inch square-shaped Passport, touting the device’s larger screen and apps geared to professionals that have defected to other devices. As Fortune reported last month, BlackBerry is hoping government, finance and health care workers will find the device’s unorthodox dimensions ideal for their work.

    The device is off to a fairly decent start, according to CNET, which reports 200,000 BlackBerry Passport smartphones have been ordered since launch.

    Investors have bought into the BlackBerry turnaround story before, only to be burned later when reality set in. The company’s shares rose in the months leading up to the company’s launch of a new operating system, called BlackBerry 10, which was unveiled in 2013. Investors had placed a big bet that plan could work, sending BlackBerry’s [then known as Research in Motion] shares up 59% in the 12 months before issuing quarterly results in June. Disappointing sales of the Z10 phone resulted in shares tumbling some 28%.