BlackBerry's Numbers for Q4 2012, Company Optimistic About Future - The UpStream

BlackBerry's Numbers for Q4 2012, Company Optimistic About Future

posted Sunday Apr 7, 2013 by Nicholas DiMeo

BlackBerry's Numbers for Q4 2012, Company Optimistic About Future

The new and improved BlackBerry has been in the news a lot lately. From their CEO not holding back any punches to an unknown buyer picking up one million of BlackBerry's new devices. Now that the dust has settled, and the BlackBerry Z10 is available for purchase, it's time to crunch some numbers this week.

For Q4 of 2012, BlackBerry moved 6 million units, with the obvious 1 million being new BlackBerry 10 devices. Analysts predicted a total of 7 million, with 1.1 BB10 smartphones, so while they were right on the money, it's pretty close. This brought BlackBerry $94 million in profit and a revenue of $2.7 billion. Not bad at all considering the company only made $19 million in profit in Q3, and most of that was from the settlement in August.

For some bad news, BlackBerry said it has lost 3 million subscribers this quarter, dropping to 76 million users of BlackBerry devices across the globe. They expected this change, though, and look for the number to go right back up with the launch of the new devices coming in this current Q1 for 2014. BB also said that they will ramp up advertising and marketing expenses by 50% in order to really push the brand new operating system on their phones. This move will be key for the upcoming BB Q10, which has the familiar keyboard that old CrackBerry enthusiasts know and love.

Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates, said this on BlackBerry's upcoming year,

It's the next 1-2 quarters that will really tell the story of how well the devices are being received in the US. The big challenge for BlackBerry is to up the marketing and get people interested in the devices.

While most of the statement was on the new BB10, BlackBerry also said it still was able to ship out 370,000 PlayBook tablets. This number is shocking to me, but considering that most places sell the device for sub-$200, I guess it's a pretty popular alternative to anything Android.

So, now that the numbers are in the books, is there success in the future for BlackBerry? One of their Co-CEOs are stepping down May 1st, and they have a new look and feel about them as a whole. Perhaps we'll see BlackBerry back at the top of the mobile space by the end of the year? Who knows? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.

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