Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of popular BlackBerry smartphone family of devices, has fallen 22 per cent yesterday after the company announced looses and was forced to announce a delay in the launch of the next version of its BlackBerry operating system.

The pressure on the board is rising to find a collaborator or sell parts of the business to others. The company has said that it suffered a loss of 37 cents a share, which are five times the market expectations. The company's sales fell by as much as 43 percent to $2.8 billion and it has said that it will cut 5,000 jobs.

The smartphone maker, which was once the leader in the segment, had been waiting for a release of the BlackBerry 10 in the fall. However, with the delay and no new devices lined up for the year, the company face increasing competition from new models from Apple and Android makers.

The company has struggled to maintain its market share due to increased competition from Apple Inc. and Android-powered devices. Investment firm Jaguar Financial Corp has recommended that the RIM should split into separate companies, seek a buyer and shake up management.