Due to ‘volatile state,’ Pfizer tells staff to ditch BlackBerry for iPhone and Android

Earlier this month, BlackBerry announced plans to receive an investment worth over $1 billion in the form of a debt sale and to fire its CEO Thorsten Heins. Instead of sell out, the company has decided to try and rebuild.

Of course, that’s much easier said than done. Not only has BlackBerry lost nearly all of its consumer marketshare, it’s also lost most of its major enterprise accounts, and word has it that another one—Pfizer—is on the way out…

In a recent memo to employees, Pfizer told its BlackBerry users to switch to an iPhone or Android handset as soon as they become eligible for an upgrade. Why? Because declining sales have put the handset in a ‘volatile state.’

Bloomberg has the memo:

“Pfizer told employees who use BlackBerry devices to instead get an Apple Inc. phone or one run on Google Inc.’s Android operating system. The drugmaker cited Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry’s declining market share and noted that the company attempted to sell itself.

“In response to declining sales, the company is in a volatile state,” New York-based Pfizer told employees in a memo obtained by Bloomberg News. “We recommend that BlackBerry clients use their BlackBerry devices and plan to migrate to a new device at normal contract expiration.”

Pfizer is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world (by revenue) and employs some 90,000 people. While not everyone carries a corporate phone, it’s believed that its current smartphone deployment is significant.

Although bad, this wouldn’t be the worst news BlackBerry has heard in recent months. In September, the company announced that it had to write down nearly $1 billion in unsold products, and that it would be cutting 4,500 jobs.