TORONTO Blackberry (BBRY) said Friday that it will lay off 40 percent of its workforce, or 4,500 employees, the clearest sign yet that the troubled mobile technology company has lost the smartphone race to industry rivals such as Samsung and Apple (AAPL).
Blackberry's shares dropped 19 percent to $8.50 after reopening for trading. Shares had been halted pending the news.
BlackBerry had been scheduled to release earnings next week. But the Canadian company said late Friday afternoon it expects a loss of about $950 million to $995 million for the quarter, including a massive inventory charge due to increasing market competition.
The BlackBerry, pioneered in 1999, was the dominant smartphone for on-the-go business people and other customers before Apple debuted the iPhone in 2007. Since then, BlackBerry Ltd. has been hammered by competition from the iPhone as well as Android-based rivals like Samsung.
Blackberry's share of the smartphone operating system has shrunk to a meager 2.9 percent, according to research firm IDC. That compares with more than 79 percent for Google's Android platform and 13.2 percent for Apple's iOS software.
Speculation has arisen in the recent weeks that Blackberry may put itself up for sale in a bid to go private.
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