Blackberry 2013 Annual Report Download - page 76

Risk associated with litigation claims against the Company arising from the Company’s practice of providing forward-
looking guidance to its shareholders with respect to certain financial metrics, including the Company’s practice of
updating previous guidance where circumstances warrant.
On March 29, 2012, the Company announced that it will no longer provide specific, forward-looking quantitative guidance. However,
the Company remains committed to providing a high level of disclosure and transparency and will continue to provide commentary
that highlights the trends and uncertainties that the Company anticipates. Any statements that are forward-looking statements are
intended to enable the Company’s shareholders to view the anticipated performance and prospects of the Company from
management’s perspective at the time such statements are made, and they are subject to the risks that are inherent in all forward-
looking statements, as described in this Annual Information Form under “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements”
and “Risk Factors”. These forward-looking statements are made by the Company in light of its experience, its perception of historical
and anticipated business trends, existing conditions in the business at the time and anticipated future developments, including
competition and new product initiatives and expected timing, as well as the Company’s current assessments of the risk factors that
affect its business and the likely success of mitigation strategies relating to such factors. These forward-looking statements are subject
to the inherent risk of difficulties in forecasting the Company’s financial results for future periods, particularly over longer periods,
given the rapid technological changes, evolving industry standards, intense competition and short product life cycles that characterize
the wireless communications industry.
Given the dynamics of the wireless communications industry, the Company’s financial results may not follow any past trends. In
particular, the Company’s entry into new markets or changes to the Company’s technology, such as its transition to the BlackBerry 10
mobile computing platform, can increase the difficulty of forecasting financial results. Significant unanticipated sales and marketing,
R&D, IT, professional and other costs, writedowns and impairment charges may be incurred or take place in a single quarter, which
can affect results. Additionally, many of the Company’s products are, among other things, subject to long development, new product
approval and certification, and sales cycles. In addition, the Company is engaged in an industry that is highly competitive and rapidly
evolving, and has experienced, and expects to continue to experience, intense competition from a number of companies. As a result, if
expected revenues are not realized as anticipated, if new product introductions are delayed or are not as well received by the market as
anticipated, or if operating expenses are higher than expected, the Company’s actual financial results could be materially adversely
affected. These factors can make it difficult to predict the Company’s financial results. Consequently, actual results may differ
materially from those expressed or implied by the Company’s forward-looking statements and may not meet the expectations of
analysts or investors, which can contribute to the volatility of the market price of the Company’s common shares. Despite the
Company’s cautions in each earnings release, earnings conference call and securities filing that contains forward-looking statements
that the risks relating to such statements should be considered carefully and that shareholders should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements, if results expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements are not realized, or the Company
updates its forward-looking statements at a later time, the Company may nevertheless be subject to potential securities litigation or
enforcement action.
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