RIM Reports Q4 Loss, CEO Starts Strategic Overhaul As Concerns Mount

Research In Motion Limited, the Canadian smartphone maker, Thursday reported that its fourth-quarter net loss was $125 million, raising concerns about its future and forcing its CEO to announce strategic plans to revamp the company.

I have assessed many aspects of RIM's business during my first 10 weeks as CEO. I have confirmed that the company has substantial strengths that can be further leveraged to improve our financial performance, including RIM's global network infrastructure, a strong enterprise offering and a large and growing base of more than 77 million subscribers, Thorsten Heins, President & CEO of Research In Motion, said.

Heins said that the firm was reviewing strategic opportunities such as partnerships and joint venture licensing, and other ways to leverage its assets.

Revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 was $4.2 billion, which is a decrease by 25 percent from $5.6 billion in the same quarter of fiscal 2011. RIM shipped 11.1 million BlackBerry phones in the fourth quarter, which is 21 percent fewer than in the third quarter. The decrease in the BlackBerry shipments is a clear indication of the losing market share faced by the company.

RIM, which was once the market leader in smartphone industry, has faced intense competition from Apple and Samsung. With increase in popularity of Apple's iPhone and also the Andorid based smartphones from Samsung, the market share of RIM has come down drastically.

Company's co-CEO and board member Jim Balsillie has resigned and Dan Dodge, former head of QNX Software, would take over as RIM's top software architect.

In addition, Jim Rowan has left the position for chief operating officer and the company has not so far found a replacement for him.

Meanwhile, there have also been reports of a possible sale of the company though this has not been disclosed by the senior management of the firm.