BlackBerry lost close to $1 billion in the July to September quarter as users abandoned its once-dominant platform. During the three-month period, the struggling smartphone maker said it shipped around 3.7 million handsets -- exactly half the number it sold in the same period last year. As a result, it expects sales for the quarter to be around $1.6 billion, a drop of 45 percent from the same quarter in 2012, the company said Friday.