Struggling BlackBerry maker begins job cuts

TORONTO — Struggling BlackBerry maker Research In Motion said Wednesday it has started laying off employees as part of a restructuring plan aimed at saving about $1 billion this year. RIM said in May that there would be “significant layoffs” this year.

Struggling BlackBerry maker Research In Motion said Wednesday it has started laying off employees as part of its restructuring plan aimed at saving about $1 billion.

NEW YORK/TORONTO (Reuters) - BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has hired law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP to work out a restructuring plan that could include selling assets, seeking joint ventures or licensing patents, people briefed on the matter said. As part of the struggling Canadian smartphone maker's strategic review, the RIM board is discussing ways to boost revenue from its new BlackBerry 10 operating system and possibly opening up its proprietary network, the sources said. ...

Reporters at the Toronto Star withheld their bylines from the newspaper’s Wednesday edition in a show of protest against upcoming layoffs and restructuring. Where a byline should be in the paper, it simply reads Star Staff.

Service expected to start cutback in August tha

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion said Thursday it swung to a loss in its most recent quarter, in disappointing first results for the struggling device maker under its new chief executive.The Waterloo, Ontario firm posted a net loss of $125 million for its fiscal fourth quarter to March 3, compared with a profit of $418 million a year earlier.That dragged down the full fiscal 2012 profit to $1.16 billion, down sharply from $3.4 billion a year earlier as RIM battled against Apple's iPhones and iPads and an onslaught of Android-powered devices.