The Canadian Press
Published Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012 10:41PM EDT
Last Updated Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012 10:43PM EDT
TORONTO -- Research In Motion is making further reductions across its operations as a source confirmed Wednesday that it will shutter its North American retail stores, while a separate report suggests the BlackBerry-maker is about to cut another 3,000 jobs.
The Waterloo, Ont.-based company declined to confirm a report from online magazine Cantech Letter which says further workforce reductions will be revealed on Aug. 13. According to the report, the cuts would be in addition to the 5,000 layoffs the company announced earlier this year.
RIM has been making drastic reductions across its operations to help counter faltering sales of its smartphones, particularly in North America.
A source familiar with its RIM's retail presence said that its last-existing storefront and nine airport locations would also soon shut down.
A spokesman for the company would only say that RIM's Boston retail store has already closed.
"We're constantly studying the consumer market and how customers make purchases," said an emailed statement from RIM representative Nick Manning.
"Consumers still have many options to buy BlackBerry products from over 20,000 retail locations in the US and online."
RIM has been working to turn around its operations after watching its market share erode as consumers switched to Apple's iPhone and other smartphones running Google's Android operating system.
The company's future success rides on the unveiling of its BlackBerry 10 operating system, which has suffered two major delays that have pushed its debut into early 2013.
RIM said in a statement in June that it expects the next several quarters to continue to be very challenging for its business.
The company saw revenue drop 33 per cent to $2.8 billion in the quarter ended June 2, down from $4.2 billion in the prior quarter.
