Will BlackBerry (Nasdaq: BBRY) maintain its presence in the Triangle?

So far, there is no answer to that question. 

The struggling smartphone maker maintains two offices in Cary, but BlackBerry won’t discuss its plans for the research and development outposts even as it begins laying off 4,500 workers.

WRALTechWire queried BlackBerry media relations about the status of its North Carolina offices last week.

“Today we made an announcement regarding the closure of our Bedford location in Nova Scotia, Canada,” came the reply.

That layoff action will affect several hundred workers, and it’s one of the first major actions BlackBerry has disclosed since announcing the layoffs and other restructuring last month.

The BlackBerry response came after the following questions had been sent to BlackBerry:

  • I am inquiring about the status of your research and development office in our area.
  • Have any layoffs occurred at this point?
  • If so how many?
  • Were affected employees allowed to apply for any open positions elsewhere in the firm?
  • Did affected workers receive severance?
  • How many employees are at your North Carolina office? What is its specific location?
  • Will the office be closed? If so, when?

The questions were sent again, but no response was received.

The North Carolina Department of Commerce says it has not received any word about a possible shutdown or layoffs.

According to BlackBerry’s website, the company maintains two offices in cary and 18 in the U.S.

On Tuesday, BlackBerry launched a marketing campaign designed to help shore up the company’s image.

The firm took out full- page ads in newspapers worldwide in a bid to convince carriers, consumers and partners that they shouldn’t abandon the struggling smartphone maker.

“These are no doubt challenging times for us and we don’t underestimate the situation or ignore the challenges,” the Waterloo, Ontario-based company says in the ads, which take the form of an open letter. “We are making the difficult changes necessary to strengthen BlackBerry.”

The ads are an attempt to communicate directly with customers, without intermediaries or distortion, Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben told Bloomberg News. BlackBerry wants to assure buyers that they can choose one of its smartphones with confidence, knowing that the company will stick around.

“The level of noise around the company is very high,” Boulben said yesterday in an interview. The ads will appear today in 30 publications in nine countries, including the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. BlackBerry also is sending the letter to customers and partners.