BlackBerry fortunes may be on the rise as Z10 launch leads to steady Q4 results

BlackBerry, Mobile phones, Tech Digest news
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blackberry-z10-14.JPGBlackBerry have revealed their fourth quarter, end of year results for fiscal 2013. And it seems the launch of the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone and BB10 operating system is having a positive effect on the flailing company’s fortunes.

1 million BlackBerry Z10 handsets have been sold according to the Canadian phone giant, with 6 million smartphones overall shipped in the quarter ending March 2nd.

That’s resulted in a net income for the quarter of $98 million (19 cents a share), an increase year-on-year of an earlier profit of $9 million, or 2 cents a share.

The company are not over the hill just yet however; despite the strong sales of the new handset, customer numbers still slipped to 76 million subscribers, down from 79 million the previous quarter, and 80 million the quarter before.

“We have implemented numerous changes at BlackBerry over the past year and those changes have resulted in the Company returning to profitability in the fourth quarter,” said Thorsten Heins, President and CEO.

“With the launch of BlackBerry 10, we have introduced the newest and what we believe to be the most innovative mobile computing platform in the market today. Customers love the device and the user experience, and our teams and partners are now focused on getting those devices into the hands of BlackBerry consumer and enterprise customers.

“As we go into our new fiscal year, we are excited with the opportunities for the BlackBerry 10 platform, and the commitments we are seeing from our global developers and partners. We are also excited about the new, dynamic culture at BlackBerry, where we are laser-focused on continuing to drive efficiency and improve the Company’s profitability while driving innovation. We have built an engine that is able to drive improved financial performance at lower volumes, which should allow us to generate additional benefits from higher volumes in the future.”

We had a good long look at the BlackBerry Z10 for our review after launch, and while it’s a sturdy performer, it didn’t exactly set our hearts pumping. Click here for our full review.

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Gerald Lynch
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