RIM may Suffer Operating Loss in April-June Quarter

New Delhi: BlackBerry maker, RIM has said it is likely to face an operating loss in the first quarter and is hiring investment banks JP Morgan and RBC Capital Markets to assist in reviewing the company's financial and business performance. "The on-going competitive environment is impacting our business in the form of lower volumes and highly competitive pricing dynamics in the marketplace, and we expect our Q1 results to reflect this, and likely result in an operating loss for the quarter," RIM President and CEO Thorsten Heins said in a statement yesterday. RIM is scheduled to posts its first quarter earnings on June 28.The company which is looking forward to the launch of its new smartphone BlackBerry 10 said that significant cost and jobs cuts in some areas will continue to take place throughout the remaining fiscal year. Last week, a report noted that RIM is likely to slash around 2,000 jobs worldwide as part of massive restructuring plan that will begin in the couple of weeks. The company, however, will continue to spend and hire in key areas such as those associated with the launch of BlackBerry 10, and those tied to the growth of its application developer community. "To further enhance our commitment to successfully completing our transformation, after the release of our year-end financial results, we engaged JP Morgan Securities LLC and RBC Capital Markets to assist the company and our Board of Directors in reviewing RIM's business and financial performance," Heins added. On a positive note, the company expects to further increase cash position in Q1 from the about USD 2.1 billion available at the end of fiscal 2012. RIM has struggled to compete in the fast-growing smartphone market against rival's Apple's iPhone and Android based handsets by Samsung. However, the company said its global subscriber base continued to grow this quarter to about 78 million, driven primarily by growth in international markets, which is partially offset by high churn in the US, and BBM user base has growing to about 56 million users worldwide. Additionally, the brand got a boost with successful launch of two new BlackBerry 7 phones in India and Latin America. Previously the mobile maker had announced a strategic programme through which the company has planned to save USD 1 billion in savings by the end of fiscal 2013. "We are targeting better efficiency and use of resources in our sales and marketing initiatives to effectively leverage marketing windows and evaluate our country portfolio to determine where it makes sense for us to prioritize our efforts," Heins said