BlackBerry Takes a U-Turn and Postpones BBM Following Leak on Android and iOS Platforms

Fans of BlackBerry Messenger who have been waiting for the app on Android devices for quite some time will now have to wait a little longer as the Canadian company has postponed its launch.

The application reportedly made an appearance on Android devices on Sept. 21, 2013 and was set to land on iOS devices in Sept. 22. However, it now appears that the tech giant changed its mind in the last moment, reported Metro.

Before the official launch of the application, an unofficial Android application was released online, which was downloaded by around 1.1 million times in just about 8 hours before being pulled down by BlackBerry.  

"Our teams continue to work around the clock to bring BBM to Android and iPhone, but only when it's ready and we know it will live up to your expectations of BBM," said BlackBerry in a statement on its official blog.

All the BBM fans that were able to download the messenger when it was leaked, had to delete the application later as the Canadian company disabled the services.

"We know you're waiting. Pausing #BBM4All rollout to fix issues caused by unreleased BBM for Android app," tweeted the official Twitter page for BlackBerry Messenger, after the disappointed fans reacted angrily on Twitter.

"We are pausing the global roll-out of BBM for Android and iPhone. Customers who have already downloaded BBM for iPhone will be able to continue to use BBM. The unreleased Android app will be disabled, and customers who downloaded it should," BlackBerry posted on the official blog.

All of this issues faced by the Canadian company is bringing the company down and as of on Sept. 20, 2013, the company announced the cut down of about 4,500 jobs, following poor financial performance, reported The Independent. This figure accounts for around 40 percent of the global workforce.

The tech giant has predicted a huge loss of around $995 million in its next second quarter earnings report, which will be presented by the company next week.

"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," said Thorston Hein, CEO of BlackBerry. "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."

The Canadian company has not been making much profit due to poor sales of the latest Z10 model.