BlackBerry's CEO asked shareholders to be patient at the company's annual general meeting this morning, following disappointing results in its first fiscal quarter ending June 1.
Thorsten Heins told investors the company is still in the midst of its transition plan, which has involved:
a company-wide cost reduction program;
improving the company's supply chain;
a change in company culture to emphasize innovation and competition;
completing a shareholder-requested management team change; and
rolling out the Z10 and Q10 smartphones, running on the new BlackBerry 10 operating system.
Heins said the company had already completed phase one of its transformational plan and was currently in phase two, expected to last until at least the end of 2013. He said he expects the company to benefit from the changes put into place as BlackBerry moves into phase three of the plan.
Heins said BlackBerry's secure network and "machine-to-machine" computing would be two areas the company would focus on.
Heins said BlackBerry's management team is satisfied with the reception of its new smartphones and operating system, noting that the new devices are now available in 90 countries.
But Heins said the company still faces an uphill battle in breaking into the competitive U.S. smartphone market, which he described as "ferocious."
BlackBerry shares recovered some of their previous losses in response to Heins' address, and were trading at $9.89, up 3.6%, as of 9 a.m. today.
