Blackberry misses expectations as sales stall

Troubled smartphone maker Blackberry has reported a larger-than-expected drop in revenue during the third quarter.

Revenue fell to $793m (£507m) from $1.19bn a year earlier, missing analyst expectations.

Chief executive John Chen said the revenue figure was "not satisfying".

However, he added that he thought Blackberry might be able to stabilise and grow its revenues by 2016, but that he could not promise profitability.

Blackberry reported a net loss of $148m for the quarter, significantly less than the $4.4bn loss it reported a year earlier.

Shares in the company fell over 6% in the wake of the earnings release, before recovering later in the day.

On Wednesday, the Canadian company launched a new phone called Classic, which was intended to appeal to business clients who like the fact that the smartphone maker was best known for its physical, rather than virtual, keyboards.

A former titan, Blackberry once had a 50% share of the smartphone market in the US, but one estimate now puts its share at only 0.5%.