BlackBerry smartphone sales decline

BlackBerry performed above expectations in the past quarter. Although the company sold fewer smartphones than in previous periods, the average selling price did increase. BlackBerry suffered a loss of 89 million dollars, about 82 million euros.

Smartphone sales in the past quarter amounted to 700,000 units, while 800,000 units were sold in the previous quarter. BlackBerry CEO John Chen said this in a conference call with investors. Still, for the first time in a long time, BlackBerry recorded higher revenues than in the previous quarter, with revenues of $548 million compared to $490 million in the previous quarter. So it seems that the long period of revenue decline that the company has been struggling with for some years now has come to an end.

The increase in income is mainly due to an increase in the average selling price. Where BlackBerry received an average of $240 per device in the penultimate quarter, that increased to $315 per device in the past quarter. This probably has to do with the introduction of the Android smartphone Priv. Revenues from software services also increased.

According to Chen, the numbers show that his company is on the right track to get back to health. The hardware branch is expected to make a profit again in the current quarter. The Canadian company also expects growth in software revenues to continue to increase.

Chen previously said that smartphones should be profitable next year, otherwise his company would consider stopping selling them. BlackBerry therefore appears to be on track to meet this target. However, Chen will still have to reverse the declining trend in sales numbers.