wordplay gush: BlackBerry makes makes $94 million on revenue of $2.7 billion, ships 1 million BB10 devices in 2013 Q4

This isn't quite the BlackBerry earnings story you're waiting for -- after all, the US figures covering the success (or otherwise) of the Z10 won't arrive until the next quarter. Instead, we're looking at the company's results from the end of the financial year to March 2nd, which show that BlackBerry made $94 million in GAAP income on revenues of $2.7 billion -- in contrast to the $125 million net loss it made in the same quarter last year. More importantly, it shipped out almost one million BlackBerry 10 devices during the three weeks of the quarter that they were available. In addition, it managed to push five million of its older smartphones and 370,000 PlayBook tablets out of the door, but saw user numbers fall from 79 million last quarter to 76 million now.

It's important to notice that as revenues have remained relatively flat, the surge in profits is more than likely down to Thorsten Heins' cost-cutting measures, with the CEO remarking that "We have implemented numerous changes at BlackBerry over the past year and those changes have resulted in the Company returning to profitability in the fourth quarter."

At the same time, the company let slip that Mike Lazaridis will retire from his position as vice-chair and director of the company he helped found the better part of three decades ago. He'll exit the business on May 1st so that he can concentrate on his new enterprise, Quantum Valley Investments.

Developing...

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Blackberry