RIM Set To Lay Off 2000 Staffs - Too Bad For Blackberry

Research In Motion, the ailing maker of the BlackBerry, is planning to cut at least 2,000 staff as part of a global restructuring plan, according to reports.
The restructuring could begin in the next couple of weeks, and would affect staff worldwide, The Globe and Mail said citing several unnamed people close to the company. One person familiar with the company's plans said the layoffs may cut evendeeper, the Canadian newspaper said on Saturday.
AllThingsD also quoted sources close to the company as stating that RIM planned to cut atleast 2,000 staff out of the company's total current staff strength of about 16,500.
RIM said its policy is not to comment on rumors and speculation, but pointed to comments by CEO Thorsten Heins in an earnings call in March about a focus on driving excellence in operating metrics and efficiency, including an efficiency push acrossall functions of the organization.
The company has been seeing its market share decline in the smartphone market as competition picks up from Apple's iPhone, and phones running the Android operating system. Research firm IDC reported last week that 9.7 million phones running the BlackBerry operating system shipped in the first quarter for a market share of 6.4 percent, which was far lower than shipmentsof 13.8 million units for a market share of 13.6 percent in the first quarter of last year.
Culled from http://www.pcworld.com/article/256359/rim_said_to_plan_to_lay_off_2000_staff.html