While the world awaits Apple’s announcement today, the company that once dominated the smartphone space has been trimming its ranks. BlackBerry (BBRY) has laid off a number of sales people as its new Z10 and Q10 handsets continue to falter in the marketplace.
The layoffs were first reported by Cantech, which claimed that BlackBerry had “gutted” its salesforce, but the company would only admit that it let go a “small number” of people based in the United States. The layoffs apparently impacted employees on both the consumer and enterprise sides of BlackBerry’s business.
BlackBerry said last month that it is evaluating strategic alternatives, and board member Prem Watsa resigned due to a potential conflict of interest. Watsa is chairman of Fairfax Financial Holdings, which owns 10% of BlackBerry. This weekend, the U.K.’s Sunday Times reported that Watsa has raised billions in an effort to take BlackBerry private, and BlackBerry shares popped up on Monday morning. But the stock erased those gains as news of the layoffs permeated along with a report that Watsa’s bid is still at the “what-if” stage.
BlackBerry’s smartphones now have less than 3% of the market, according to IDC, and the launch of the Z10 and Q10 has done nothing to reverse the company’s sliding share. The company’s BBM instant message service is still very popular, and BlackBerry has promised to make it available for both iOS and Android. Last Friday, BlackBerry’s social media manager tweeted that BBM for iPhone had been submitted to Apple for approval two weeks ago.
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