RIM risks $1 billion write-down as unsold inventory piles up

BlackBerry maker, Research In Motion (RIM), could be staring down a $1 billion write-down in its upcoming quarterly earnings as inventory of its BlackBerry smartphones and PlayBook tablets continue to pile up, according to a Bloomberg report. This would be the third write-down in less than a year. RIM first took a $485 million write-down on unsold PlayBook stocks in the December quarter followed by writing off another $267 million in the March quarter for unsold BlackBerry 7 smartphones.
Bloomberg estimates RIM’s in-house stocks grew 18 percent last quarter, which does not include stocks piling up with carriers, distributors and retailers. RIM is planning to launch devices running on its next generation platform, BlackBerry 10, later this year. With no significant product launches so far this year, customers are holding off buying BlackBerry devices running on the older OS, adding to the vendors woes.
RIM is also expected to announce laying off 2,000 employees later this week. The company’s chief legal officer, Karima Bawa resigned yesterday and its global sales head, Patrick Spence left the company last week. RIM’s co-founders and co-CEOs stepped down last quarter handing over the reigns to Thorsten Heins, who was earlier the COO of the company.
The way things are going at RIM, we are not sure if RIM has the time to see the launch of BlackBerry 10 smartphones. Heins has his work cut out for him and there is no scope of any further delays in BlackBerry 10 development and launch.