BlackBerry's dwindling users ponder an uncertain future

(CNN) -- Since the dawn of the iPhone age in 2007, loyal BlackBerry users have watched their favorite device maker stumble into an ever-steepening decline.
Some of the collapse is due to the consumer changeover to Apple and Google Android products, but the company -- once known as Research In Motion -- hasn't helped itself with poor planning and delayed product introductions.
On Monday, the company that once blazed the trail in the smartphone market announced it's being taken private by its largest shareholder, Fairfax Financial, a Canadian insurance company.

BlackBerry to fire 4,500 employees as sales of new device plummet

BlackBerry confirmed it was firing 4,500 of its staff on Friday as the struggling smartphone firm said it expects to lose nearly $1bn in the three months to August on disappointing sales of new phones.

Revenues for the three months were only $1.6bn, the company said, against analysts' forecasts of $3bn – indicative of a collapse in its business after lacklustre sales of its new Z10 and Q10 phones. In all, it shipped 3.7m smartphones in the quarter, its lowest since summer 2007, when the first iPhone came out.

BlackBerry may put itself up for sale

TORONTO: Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry is looking at options that could include joint ventures, partnerships or a sale of the company as it struggles to survive against stiff competition

BlackBerry, which pioneered on-your-hip email with its first smartphones and email pagers, on Monday said it had set up a committee to review its options and that top shareholder Prem Watsa was stepping down from its board due to a possible conflict of interest.

BlackBerry, once a stock market darling, has bled market share to the likes of Apple Inc and phones using Google Inc's Android operating system, and its new BlackBerry 10 smartphones have failed to gain traction with consumers.