BlackBerry Sacks U.S. Sales Chief, Will Layoff More Employees

Its no secret that BlackBerry is struggling. It is struggling to retain the market share it has lost over the years to the onslaught of Android smartphones and iPhones. The company itself is trying hard to maintain shareholder interest as it aims to turn itself around. Last year it was announced that BlackBerry would layoff as many as 5,000 employees. The Wall Street Journal reports that restructuring is taking place inside the company which might result in more layoffs on top of those already announced. In addition to that, BlackBerry has also sacked its U.S. sales chief, after the company admitted that the U.S. launch of its new smartphones wasn’t exactly spectacular.

These latest job cuts are reportedly going to affect middle management positions in the sales and support divisions. BlackBerry hasn’t commented on these layoffs but has confirmed the departure of Richard Piasentin, the aforementioned U.S. sales chief. During the Annual General shareholders meeting yesterday, CEO Thorsten Heins partly blamed U.S. carriers for the lackluster response to the U.S. launch. He held that carriers were primarily focused on promoting the hottest smartphones like the ones from Samsung or the iPhone. It has also been confirmed that BlackBerry will be launching a new OS7 smartphone later this year.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: General
Tags: BlackBerry