RIM delays new BlackBerry while losses mount Research In Motion has been forced to delay the launch of its next generation BlackBerry 10 handset until the first quarter of next year and posted larger than expected quarterly losses, raising further questions about its turnround strategy. RIM said that integration of BlackBerry 10 features had "proven to be more time consuming than anticipated." RIM's management and board, led by Thorsten Heins, chief executive, have pinned the Canadian group's turnround hopes on the launch of a new operating system and the related new handsets which had already been delayed until late this year, prompting some analysts to question whether RIM could survive as an independent company. Reflecting these concerns, RIM's the value of US -traded shares, which has fallen by over 75 per cent in the past year, fell another 17.6 per cent in after-hours trading to $7.52 a share. The share price decline also reflected dismal fiscal first-quarter earnings which RIM announced after the market close. The company reported a net loss of $518m, or 99 cents a share, and a steep decline in revenues. As expected, it said it will cut its workforce by 5,000. Despite the loss, net cash rose to $2.2bn from $2.1bn last quarter. Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2013 was $2.8 billion, down 33 per cent from $4.2 billion in the previous quarter and down 43 per cent from $4.9 billion in the same quarter of fiscal 2012. RIM shipped 7.8 million BlackBerry smartphones and about 260,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets. Mr Heins, who took over as chief executive in January after the company's former co-chief executives and founders stepped aside, said the results "reflect the market challenges I have outlined since my appointment as CEO." "I am not satisfied with these results and continue to work aggressively with all areas of the organisation and the board to implement meaningful changes to address the challenges, including a thoughtful realignment of resources and honing focus within the company on areas that have the greatest opportunities," he said. "We are aggressively working with our advisers on our strategic review and are actively evaluating ways to better leverage our assets and build on our strengths, including our growing BlackBerry subscriber base of approximately 78m, our large enterprise installed base, our unique network architecture and our industry leading security capabilities," he said.