Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry may be losing money but its messaging service BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) is still well positioned, reaching 40 million downloads within just 60 days.
BlackBerry announced, Friday, its financial results for Q3 of fiscal 2014 ended November 30. The company posted a loss of $4.4 billion, or $8.37 per share, in the quarter but says is still "well-positioned" in certain markets with its Enterprise Services, Messaging and QNX businesses.
BlackBerry (previously Research In Motion) has lost a major share of its handset business to rivals such as Apple, Samsung, LG, HTC and more. The company tried to revive with the launch of its latest mobile operating system, BlackBerry 10, in January this year and launched a slew of new all-touch as well as traditional QWERTY handsets running on the newest operating system, but failed to attract many customers.
The company has also written off $1.6 billion as unsold BlackBerry 10 devices. However, its BBM service, which was launched on Android and iOS recently, is still going strong and the company said it has crossed 40 million downloads in just 60 days.
"While our Enterprise Services, Messaging and QNX Embedded businesses are already well-positioned to compete in their markets, the most immediate challenge for the Company is how to transition the Devices operations to a more profitable business model," said John Chen, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BlackBerry.
BlackBerry also said that around a dozen Android smartphone makers, including LG, will now pre-load BBM on their upcoming handsets. The company also reported that over 250,000 BBM Channels were created by a global user base since the launch of BBM Channels on BlackBerry, which includes big and well-known brands such as Coke Indonesia and USA Today.
BlackBerry handsets are preferred by many businesses as BBM is supposed to be the most secure mobile messaging service for use in regulated enterprises. However, with the emergence of BBM on the App Store and Google Play, customers can expect the same security level on their iOS and Android devices.
Shares of BlackBerry closed up 15.52 percent at $7.22 on the Nasdaq on Friday.
