Tag: BlackBerry tech

This year will define whether or not BlackBerry continues with hardware

| February 9, 2016

The brand is already struggling to return to a smartphone space that is only increasing in competition.

The attempts being made by BlackBerry to return to a level of success in the smartphone hardware business is certainly an ongoing one, but it appears that the company has been fighting an uphill battle.

Analysts from Scotia Capital are now saying that the company will be reaching a “critical juncture” in 2016.

As much as CEO John Chen has insisted that BlackBerry will not be leaving the hardware industry and while a number of highly strategic moves have been made to help ensure that its smartphones will keep heading to store shelves – and into the hands of consumers and business users – the fact is that it is continuing to lose subscribers and money. In fact, just as the analysts made their prediction, the company also revealed that it would be laying off 125 employees in Canada, in addition to 75 workers in Florida who would also be losing their jobs.

The analysts see a number of different strategic options still left for BlackBerry as this year progresses.

Deciding Year for BlackberryThe Scotia Capital analysts said that there are three main strategic options that the Ontario, Canada-based company currently has within its reach. The first would be to step out of hardware while facing a one-time cost that they predict to be around $100 million (USD). The second would be to license its operating system or brand as a whole to another hardware manufacturer. The third would occur if the company’s hardware segment manages to reach profitability this year, in which case it should continue its operations.

A great deal of the decisions that will be made by the company will depend on whether or not its latest smartphone, the Priv slider mobile phone powered by Android, ends up being successful in its sales. Investors have a very close eye on whether or not that key mobile device is managing to appeal to enough consumers to make it worthwhile.

At the same time, BlackBerry has been continuing its evolution as a provider of enterprise software. It could end up spending as much as $1 billion (USD) on the acquisition of companies over the next couple of years and still manage to keep up a net cash balance of $500 million (USD) in that business.

CEO John Chen unwavering in BlackBerry smartphone profitability goal

| May 22, 2015

He believes that the enterprise security features will set these handsets apart from the competition.

CEO John Chen has revealed that he is still pursuing his goal of returning BlackBerry smartphone sales to profitability, despite the fact that the company has only just managed to escape from the brink of complete disaster.

It is Chen’s belief that the mobile security in the company’s handsets are head and shoulders over other manufacturers.

Chen explained that when it comes to mobile security, there simply isn’t any comparison to a BlackBerry smartphone He said that they offer far greater security features on enterprise devices than is available on any other manufacturer’s gadgets. The CEO also went on to state that the smartphones made by BlackBerry function as a jumping off point for the company to be able to market its other broad range of security options.

While the company can secure Android and iPhone devices, Chen says that there is nothing like a BlackBerry smartphone.

Blackberry Smartphone - Profitability GoalThe CEO explained that Android smartphones and iPhones can have their mobile security levels enhanced through BlackBerry technology, but that when it comes down to it, the highest level of protection is available through one of the company’s own handsets. This belief helps to explain why Chen has chosen to adhere to his intentions of moving forward within the device business in order to focus on other components of the mobile industry.

He also explained that the U.S. Army is continuing with “rolling out all BlackBerry,” and he added that if he should “tell them there are no more phones, I lose that account. The question is how do you make phones profitable at the volume those people represent?”

During the most recent quarterly earnings announcement, the handset maker from Windsor, Canada, revealed that it had 1.6 million devices within that span of time. Though this number is certainly only the smallest sliver of the mobile technology market as a whole (Apple’s equivalent figure was 61.2 million), it does help to show that the BlackBerry smartphone does appear to be hanging in there when compared to previous recent quarters.