BlackBerry, only 8.5 million phones sold

The BlackBerry, once a mobile phone that executives and political leaders can't leave, is now in the unenviable position of being forgotten. This Friday BlackBerry released its dismal 2014-year record: Only 8.5 million handsets were sold. Four years ago, BlackBerry sales were 50 billion.

The Canadian company plunged into recession after failing to keep pace with Apple and other handset makers, selling only 1.6 million handsets in the quarter to the previous year, compared to half the year before, when Apple sold 74.4 million handsets in the quarter to the last.

The BlackBerry report says its annual income is 3.3 billion dollars, less than half the year before. 2011, BlackBerry Annual income close to 20 billion dollars.

BlackBerry's pre-tax loss last year was $385 million trillion, and it has made progress compared with the 72 billion dollar losses of the previous year. 2011, the BlackBerry's pre-tax profit was 4.6 billion dollars.

Chen, the BlackBerry CEO, told investors that the painful period had finally passed. "I am pleased to announce that our financial situation has returned to normal and that our financial capacity is no longer a problem," he said. ”

The BlackBerry's share price has fallen from $230 a share of $9.6 a share in the summer of 2007 (when Apple released its iphone) to 95% per cent. Friday BlackBerry shares rose 3.2%.

Chen says at least the BlackBerry's morale is beginning to recover. "Even if the company is not running well, the company needs to be financially stable," he said in a company conference call. I want to tell you that the morale of the company is much better than it was a year ago. The morale of the future needs to be better than today. ”

For years BlackBerry has struggled-but failed-to keep up with Apple and touch-screen phone technology. Last December, the BlackBerry returned to its tradition with the introduction of the "the Classic" QWERTY keyboard phone. BlackBerry did not disclose the sales of its new handsets.

Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC, says Chen has worked well since he was CEO of the BlackBerry in 2013. He said: "Chen can do this in the case of a sharp decline in income, or very impressive." BlackBerry has been on the road to the second stage, the goal is to become an enterprise software company. 2016 is the year that this transformation was achieved. ”

"BlackBerry has been very good at controlling operating costs and capital losses during its business transition," said Brian Colello, an analyst at Morningstar company. But BlackBerry has not been able to reverse its overall revenues, and we are concerned that its demand for funds will increase. But it's a good start. They hope to achieve more meaningful growth in the middle of fiscal year 2016. ”