All eyes are on BlackBerry today as the smartphone maker — pressing for a turnaround — announces quarterly results.
Wall Street has low expectations for the company, which has seen a lackluster start to sales of the BlackBerry Z10.
Industry watchers have said the American launch of the phone last week was met coolly by consumers and carriers, who gave the device limited space on shelves.
“We see the Z10 as having an initial degree of success from loyal BlackBerry users,” analyst Colin Gillis of BGC Partners wrote in a note to clients this week.
He predicted BlackBerry sold 1.3 million devices in the quarter ended March 1 — or at least the company shipped that many phones to stores.
Still, the majority of sales were older, less lucrative, models for the company, Gillis said.
His estimates were more optimistic than those of others on Wall Street — but they still called for a 30 percent decline in revenue, to $2.83 billion, over last year.
The consensus on Wall Street is that BlackBerry will lose 29 cents a share.
Last quarter, BlackBerry saw its first decline in subscribers, and this quarter that drop is likely to continue. Some analysts expect BlackBerry could lose up to 2 million users, bringing the number down to 77 million.
The pressure on the company could ultimately lead to cheaper BlackBerry Z10s, which now cost $200, the same as an iPhone 5.
“A $100 or even a $50 price point may have driven more sales, albeit at a lower gross margin, but we expect that the phone may reach those prices later this year,” Gillis said.
BlackBerry shares gained 0.7 percent yesterday, to $14.57.