Blackberry to stop producing smartphones in-house

Smartphone maker Blackberry announced that it would be outsourcing all its hardware from now on, as the company released its results for the quarter.

The firm has fallen way down the pecking order in the hugely competitive phone market, leading to the decision to stop producing its phones in-house.

Shares in Blackberry rose following the news.

Its run of bad luck continued, with the Canadian-based outfit posting a net loss of $372m, on revenue of $334m.

Blackberry posted a profit of $51m in the same period one year ago, on revenue of $490m.

James Yersh, the Ontario-based company's chief financial officer, has left the company for personal reasons, and is to be replaced by former president of worldwide field operations at Syabase, Steven Capelli.