TORONTO (Reuters) - Research In Motion Ltd on Thursday posted a steeper than expected operating loss, its first in eight years, and delayed the make-or-break launch of its next-generation BlackBerry phones until early next year, in a potentially devastating setback to the embattled company.
RIM said its next-generation BlackBerry 10 devices were delayed because the integration of features and a huge volume of code into the platform had "proven to be more time consuming than anticipated." Earlier it had said it would release the new lineup in late 2012.
"Wow - what a disaster," Edward Snyder, managing director of Charter Equity Research in San Francisco. RIM is in a "handset death spiral."
RIM, which has pledged to slash $1 billion from its operating costs this year, said it plans to cut 5,000 jobs, or about 30 percent of its workforce, as its BlackBerry smartphone shipments fell sharply for a second straight quarter.
Its adjusted net loss came in at $192 million, or 37 cents a share, in the three months to June 2. Revenue declined 33 percent to $2.8 billion.
The company had warned it would post an operating loss but had not provided specifics.
Analysts, on average, expected a loss of 7 cents a share on revenue of $3.07 billion, according to an informal Reuters poll.
A year ago RIM reported net income of $695 million, or $1.33 a share, on sales of $4.91 billion.
"From a numbers point of view it could hardly be worse and it's going to deteriorate from here," Snyder said.
RIM shipped 7.8 million BlackBerry smartphones in the period, down from more than 14 million two quarters ago. It was the first quarter shipping less than 10 million devices since late 2009.
Shares of RIM, which have dropped about 70 percent over the past year, were halted soon after the close of regular U.S. trading hours.
(Reporting by Alastair Sharp in Toronto; Editing by Frank McGurty)
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