BlackBerry Ltd had warned last Friday that the company is projecting a huge quarterly operating loss next week. Furthermore, the announcement of the layoff of nearly a third of its global workforce was made, fueling speculation of the company's future closure and caused shares into a downward spiral.

The company had been facing an uphill climb to revive its presence in the smartphone market against industry leaders Apple Inc's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy models. It is projected to report between USD950 million and USD995 million in the quarter ending August 31 because of writedowns and other financial issues.

The Toronto listed shares of the smartphone maker fell nearly a quarter to CAD8.25 last Friday, which is the lowest level it had fell this year. The share values closed at 16%, reaching CAD9.08. The company's NASDAQ listed shares on the other hand fell 17% lower than opening price, levelling off at USD8.73 per share from its all time low of USD8,01.