14 DAY TRIAL // There is good and bad news for BlackBerry fans, as the Canadian company has just announced its fiscal earnings for Q4 2015.
The good news is BlackBerry confirmed a small profit of $28 million on revenue of $660 million. Even if the numbers are above the red line, BlackBerry's overall revenue drastically decreased in the last couple of quarters.
Unfortunately, smartphones sales plummeted to 1.3 million devices, which is a 700,000 drop from the previous quarter. However, this is not totally unexpected, as Morgan Stanley's report from less than two weeks ago claimed BlackBerry's smartphone sales are worse than expected.
The said report mentioned that BlackBerry only sold 800,000 Classic and Passport units, which is way below the 2-3 million devices the Canadian company needs in FY16.
Software earnings aren't that big either
On the software front, BlackBerry reports a $67 million profit in Q4 2015, which is a 20% increase from the same period last year. Still, this is far from the company's goal of earning $500 million from software by FY16.
As the Canadian company continues to add new features that require subscription, the profits may increase exponentially, but as of right now the addition of BBM stickers, customizable PINs and ad removal simply don't cut it.
Hopefully, the situation will improve by the end of the year, otherwise John Chen's plan for BlackBerry's comeback may fail. Here is Chen's explanations for his company's Q4 2015 results:
"Our focus this past year was on getting our financial house in order while creating a multi-year growth strategy and investing in our product portfolio. We now have a very good handle on our margins, and our product roadmaps have been well received.
The second half of our turnaround focuses on stabilization of revenue with sustainable profitability and cash generation," said Executive Chairman and CEO John Chen.