Sept 27 (Reuters) – Canada’s BlackBerry Ltd (BB.TO), beat analysts’ estimates for second-quarter revenue on Tuesday, powered by demand for its QNX automotive software from automakers betting on more connected vehicles.

BlackBerry’s QNX software is now embedded in over 215 million vehicles worldwide, it said, helped by surging demand for electric vehicles and connected-car technologies.
The company recently added global carmakers such as Ford Motor (F.N), General Motors (GM.N), Hyundai Motor (005380.KS), to its already strong client list of BMW (BMWG.DE), Honda Motor (7267.T), Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) and Toyota Motor (7203.T).
Sales in the Internet of things (IoT) unit, which includes the QNX software, rose about 28% to $51 million in the reported quarter.

Revenue fell 4% to $168 million for the quarter ended Aug. 31.

Analysts on average had expected $166.7 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

The company’s net loss narrowed to $54 million, or 10 cents per share, in the three-month period, from a loss of $144 million, or 25 cents per share, a year earlier.

Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Shailesh Kuber

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