Canadian smartphone maker Blackberry, which is currently changing its legal name from Research In Motion, received bad news from Home Depot on Monday. The huge U.S. home improvement retailer announced it would replace Blackberry smartphones it has been providing its executives and other staff with Apple’s latest iPhone.
The announcement was the latest bad news for Blackberry in its attempt to return from a very difficult 2012. It is important for the company to retain as many of the large accounts as it can with corporate clients and different government agencies.
In January, Blackberry launched two new smartphones powered by their Blackberry 10 reengineered operating system. The launch was a crucial step for the company in retaining those important corporate and government clients.
Blackberry hopes its new line will help it to recover some of the market share it has lost the past few years to Apple, Samsung and other smartphone makers.
However, the announcement made by Home Depot of its defection to Apple sent Blackberry shares plummeting to $15.85 in afternoon trading on Monday.
The bad news from Home Depot succeeded in overshadowing reports that the new Z10 phone had debuted successfully in the United Arab Emirate last month. Both new phones were also received well in Britain along with Canada. The important U.S. debut for the two new smartphones is scheduled for March.
