RIM首季亏损迫使黑莓10延期

    上周四，黑莓手机（BlackBerry）制造商动态研究公司（Research in Motion，RIM）宣布，公司第一财季的亏损远远高于预期，并将再次推迟发布外界期待已久的黑莓10操作系统，这让原本就已经每况愈下的RIM公司进一步沉沦。

    其实，RIM传出亏损并不是什么出人意料的消息。就在上个月，公司刚上任不久的CEO托斯滕•海因斯就曾经警告称，“较低的手机出货量，以及市场竞争造成的价格促销战”，必将导致公司第一季度出现经营亏损，而且，未来几个季度，公司的财务状况仍将面临巨大的压力。

    公司公布第一季度亏损5.18亿美元，每股折合亏损0.99美元。公司第一财季营收28亿美元，去年同一季度营收为49亿美元，同比下降43%，远远低于分析师31亿美元的预期。

    公司方面称，第一财季黑莓智能手机出货量只有7,800万台，而黑莓PlayBook平板电脑的出货量仅有可怜的260，000台。此外，公司还宣布，为了削减成本，公司将裁员约5,000人。

    海因斯在一份书面声明中表示：“对于这样的结果，我很不满意，但我将继续与公司各部门和董事会共同努力，采取积极措施以应对挑战，其中包括资源重新配置，并将公司重心转移到机会最大的领域。未来我们的第一要务是尽快发布第一款黑莓10设备，目前预计的时间是在2013年第一季度。此外，我们拥有7,800万黑莓手机用户，而且规模还在不断扩大，我们拥有巨大的企业装机基数，还有独特的网络架构和业内领先的安全技术，因此，除了推出黑莓10外，我们还将聘请顾问开展战略评估，寻找途径，更有效利用公司现有的资产，建立起我们的优势。”

    在智能手机行业，RIM黑莓手机曾经一枝独秀，但近几年，公司的市场地位却在急速下降。苹果（Apple）iPhone手机和运行谷歌（Google）安卓系统的智能手机上市时，RIM管理层没能快速采取应对措施，如今智能手机市场已经成了苹果和谷歌的天下。

    眼下，公司把黑莓10当成最后一根救命稻草，但这款手机操作系统的上市时间却一拖再拖。上个月的业务汇报会上，CEO海因斯还信誓旦旦地表示，公司在多个方面取得了“显著进展”，其中就包括黑莓10的开发，并称其上市时间预计为今年年底；而在一季报中，他又将时间推迟到了2013年初。周四的投资者电话会议上，海因斯表示，事实证明，整合新功能，开发黑莓10软件代码，“都比想象中更具挑战性，所需时间也超出预期。”预计，黑莓10最早将在2013年第一季度发布，因此，RIM必将错过今年的假期销售季。而且，届时新iPhone手机和更多安卓设备均将上市，微软（Microsoft）也将推出最新版本的Windows操作系统。

    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.