In August, the Canadian company said it was evaluating a possible sale.

In a statement on Friday, Blackberry's chief executive Thorstein Heins said: "We are implementing the difficult, but necessary operational changes announced today to address our position in a maturing and more competitive industry, and to drive the company toward profitability."

"Going forward, we plan to refocus our offering on our end-to-end solution of hardware, software and services for enterprises and the productive, professional end user."

'Off a cliff'
The company said the losses were primarily attributable to disappointing sales of its new Z10 model smartphone.

Released in January to much fanfare after many delays, the phone has failed to enthuse consumers.

In June, Mr Heins said that the company had shipped only 2.7 million Z10 phones out of 6.8 million total. Many Blackberry users had instead opted to stick with earlier models.

Over the summer, word trickled out the company had hired a series of advisors to help it explore options.

In August, board member Timothy Dattels was appointed to a committee that would consider different business models, including a potential sale.

"We believe that now is the right time to explore strategic alternatives," said Mr Dattels at the time.

Analysts have long indicated that Blackberry's trove of patents could be attractive to potential buyers, but none of the large technology companies have publicly indicated interest.

"The company has sailed off a cliff," BGC technology analyst Colin Gillis told the BBC.

"This is the quarter where Blackberry as you used to know it is no longer."

But the new devices were unable to break the grip of Apple and Samsung. When the latest flagship phone in the line, the Z30, was announced this week, it caused hardly a ripple. Even BlackBerry seemed to have given up. Unlike with other phones in the series, the Z30 release came without any kind of public or flashy demonstration.

The failure of the BlackBerry 10 line of phones quickly led to speculation that the company, like Palm before it, would be broken apart and perhaps gradually disappear, at best lingering as little more than a brand name. This summer, BlackBerry announced that it was undertaking its second strategic review in less than a year. Unlike with the earlier one, however, BlackBerry's executives did not rule out a sale of the company.

All of the uncertainty surrounding the company, several analysts said, probably made the company's problems even worse during the last quarter. Corporate and government information technology departments have held back on committing to BlackBerry 10 phones and, more important for BlackBerry, the corporate server software that supports them.

Consumers are often less sensitive to corporate problems. But Keith Lam, a managing partner at Red Sky Capital Management in Toronto, said that carriers appeared to be cutting back their BlackBerry 10 inventory to avoid being saddled with unwanted phones and reducing display space and promotions for the devices in stores.

€From that it kind of snowballs downward for BlackBerry,€ said Mr. Lam, whose firm does not manage any BlackBerry shares.

If, as many expect, BlackBerry is no longer in the handset business, the question becomes what remains of value to a potential investor.

Mr Gillis said the job cuts and losses today could dampen the enthusiasm of potential buyers and might indicate the company could not find any interested parties.

This week, the company released a new version of its handset, the Z30, which was praised by observers but was nonetheless overshadowed by Apple's launch of its new smartphone products.

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