BlackBerry sells fewer devices but sees loss fall

BlackBerry sold 4.2 million fewer smartphones in the first quarter of this year than in the same period last year. In total, Blackberry sold 2.6 million smartphones in the first quarter of 2014, according to the quarterly figures.

Of the 2.6 million units sold, almost two-thirds were equipped with BlackBerry 10. The rest have BlackBerry 7, the older Java-based operating system.

Smartphone sales in the first quarter amounted to approximately $376 million, or 275 million euros. BlackBerry reported a loss of $60 million for the first quarter of 2014 compared to a loss of $84 million in the same quarter a year ago.

What is striking, however, is the change in the largest source of income for BlackBerry; while 71 percent of its revenues came from hardware in the first quarter of 2013, this percentage fell to 39 in the first quarter of 2014. Instead, the share of services offered by the company increased from 26 to 54 percent.

According to BlackBerry, the company made slightly less loss because the company works more efficiently. The company expects to break even at the end of the current fiscal year. BlackBerry was sold to investors for 3.5 billion euros in September last year. The Canadian company announced at the end of last year that it would provide its upcoming smartphones with a ‘competitive’ price tag in an attempt to make more profit.

Director John Chen said in the statement that BlackBerry’s upcoming smartphone is called Passport and that the company will present the device at an event in London in September. Chen did not give any details about the smartphone, but there have been rumors for some time about a device with a square screen of 4.5 “and qwerty keyboard.