BlackBerry’s
ongoing collapse is becoming a serious drag on the company’s
manufacturing partner Jabil Circuit. So much so that Jabil is
considering ending its business relationship with the
struggling smartphone pioneer.
Discussing Jabil’s fourth-quarter results during a call with
analysts on Wednesday, CEO Mark Mondello said that
BlackBerry’s downward spiral has given him reason to
reconsider his company’s partnership with it. BlackBerry is
Jabil’s second-largest customer overall, making up 12 percent
of its business (Apple comprises 19 percent), and its gruesome
finances and uncertain future are already negatively impacting
Jabil’s business.
“We are faced with a strong possibility of disengaging with
BlackBerry,” Mondello said. “Our team has worked diligently
over the past few days to comprehend the recently announced
changes. … We’re in discussions right now on how we’re
going to wind down the relationship.”
Mondello wouldn’t say how quickly that disengagement
would occur, but his remarks suggest that this is something
Jabil is looking to resolve fairly soon.
“Timelines are fluid,” Mondello said. “But, directionally, we
have a path, a path that we believe is prudent and in the best
interest of our shareholders, a path that also supports the
needs of BlackBerry. We plan to take a restructuring charge,
move swiftly and decisively and mitigate the impact to FY ’14
as best we can.”
It’s not going to be pretty, though. Jabil’s relationship with
BlackBerry is a large-scale one that has taken significant
infrastructure and labor to support. Winding it down is going
to take some doing, and inevitably some layoffs, as well.
Asked to comment on Mondello’s remarks, BlackBerry,
unsurprisingly, didn’t have much to say. “We value our
business partner relationships around the world, and we
remain committed to working collaboratively with them to
deliver industry-leading quality products and services,” a
company spokesman told AllThingsD.

Source: allthingsd.com/20130926/blackberry-manufacturing-partner-looking-to-bail/