Beleaguered BlackBerry forced to dispel rumors about potential exit from handset business
Though BlackBerry was once a market leader, times have become so tough for the Canadian smartphone maker that the company's CEO was prompted on Thursday to publicly refute rumors that his company might exit the handset business entirely.
BlackBerry apparently has no plans to sell its devices business, Chief Executive John Chen said in a statement posted to the company's official blog. Nor does it plan to abandon the smartphone market "any time soon."
"I know you still love your BlackBerry devices," Chen said to devotees. "I love them too and I know they created the foundation of this company. Our focus today is on finding a way to make this business profitable."
That means that smartphones may play a less important role going forward in BlackBerry, but a role nonetheless. Outside of its devices business, BlackBerry apparently plans to seek out other revenue streams from enterprise services, software, messaging and more.
Still, Chen said that his company plans to "continue to fight" against rivals such as Apple and Samsung, which are now the two most dominant forces in the smartphone hardware business.
"We will do everything in our power to continue to rebuild this business and deliver devices with the iconic keyboard and other features that you have come to expect from this brand," he said.
Chen was forced to make the comments after Reuters ran a story stating that Chen would consider selling off BlackBerry's handset division. For his part, the BlackBerry CEO says he was misquoted, though the publication has not yet issued any kind of retraction.
The fact that people are not talking about new BlackBerry handsets, but rather whether the company will release any future devices at all, is yet another sign of how far the company has fallen.
Earlier this month, BlackBerry cut ties with T-Mobile, the fourth-largest wireless provider in the U.S. The move was apparently part of a new strategy reducing its reliance on carriers to sell their products. T-Mobile then dismissed the departure as a non-issue, as the CEO revealed that BlackBerry users represent just over 1 percent of its total customer base.
BlackBerry's current struggles were actually predicted by late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 2010, when the then-CEO made a surprise appearance on one of his company's quarterly earnings calls. At the time, Jobs noted that Apple had sold 14.1 million iPhones in the preceding quarter, "handily" beating BlackBerry's 12.1 million units sold in the same period.
"We've now passed (BlackBerry, then known as) RIM," Jobs said. "I don't see them catching up with us in the foreseeable future. It will be a challenge for them to create a mobile software platform and convince developers to support a third platform."
BlackBerry apparently has no plans to sell its devices business, Chief Executive John Chen said in a statement posted to the company's official blog. Nor does it plan to abandon the smartphone market "any time soon."
"I know you still love your BlackBerry devices," Chen said to devotees. "I love them too and I know they created the foundation of this company. Our focus today is on finding a way to make this business profitable."
That means that smartphones may play a less important role going forward in BlackBerry, but a role nonetheless. Outside of its devices business, BlackBerry apparently plans to seek out other revenue streams from enterprise services, software, messaging and more.
Still, Chen said that his company plans to "continue to fight" against rivals such as Apple and Samsung, which are now the two most dominant forces in the smartphone hardware business.
"We will do everything in our power to continue to rebuild this business and deliver devices with the iconic keyboard and other features that you have come to expect from this brand," he said.
Chen was forced to make the comments after Reuters ran a story stating that Chen would consider selling off BlackBerry's handset division. For his part, the BlackBerry CEO says he was misquoted, though the publication has not yet issued any kind of retraction.
The fact that people are not talking about new BlackBerry handsets, but rather whether the company will release any future devices at all, is yet another sign of how far the company has fallen.
Earlier this month, BlackBerry cut ties with T-Mobile, the fourth-largest wireless provider in the U.S. The move was apparently part of a new strategy reducing its reliance on carriers to sell their products. T-Mobile then dismissed the departure as a non-issue, as the CEO revealed that BlackBerry users represent just over 1 percent of its total customer base.
BlackBerry's current struggles were actually predicted by late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 2010, when the then-CEO made a surprise appearance on one of his company's quarterly earnings calls. At the time, Jobs noted that Apple had sold 14.1 million iPhones in the preceding quarter, "handily" beating BlackBerry's 12.1 million units sold in the same period.
"We've now passed (BlackBerry, then known as) RIM," Jobs said. "I don't see them catching up with us in the foreseeable future. It will be a challenge for them to create a mobile software platform and convince developers to support a third platform."
Comments
They’ll announce the discontinuation of their hardware lines by June.
His statement would have had more impact had he not been checking the clock on the wall while he made it...
http://www.qnx.com/company/customer_stories/
http://www.qnx.com/company/30ways/
RIMM acquired QNX for $200 Million in 2010.
I assume that will depend on if they can create any synergies between the QNX stuff and whatever products and services they will decide to keep alive. The money generated by QNX will neither be enough to keep the company alive, nor to even pay their loans. And there are multiple free RTOSs out there that could be used instead, provided any of them comes up with some reliable and professional support for them. If you talk to car people, you will find that developer support was one of their main issues with e.g. VXWorks, leading to almost all of them jumping on QNX, it was not so much the product itself.
The problem for BB is really that none of their products and services is sufficient to keep them alive, and most do not make sense without the others. Why use BES if there are no more BB devices? There are plenty of competitors out there to manage iOS, Android, WP and BB, and especially MS's new management platform, which will address mobile and legacy devices including Macs and Windows PCs, will destroy BES over time; why treat mobile and conventional devices separately, when everything can be integrated? Without handhelds and MDM, what is left? Breadcrumbs from QNX and only cost from BBM...
If Chen does not find a way to keep the handheld business alive, the remaining business will not be worth keeping around. And with the Canadian government blocking potential buyers from Asia, his chances of selling the business are meager, too.
And they can spin it off just as easily.
Say you will, say you won't be my guiding light
Say you will, say you won't, make up your mind this time
Say you do, say you do, you wanna be mine"
- Foreigner (Britsh American band, which by my alchemy is pretty much Canadian....;-) )
Short term they've slowed the losses, but long term, what is their strategy for beating iOS and Android and Windows Phone? As far as I can tell, buying time for QNX won't lead to a bright future. It is heading for the same fate as PalmOS and webOS.
The way he killed the company CEO should stand for Chief Execution Officer.
Somebody had to...
Edit: And don't forget he's working for free! (13 mil shares only)
So I ask is that even possible at this point?
I don't see why anyone had to. They had a large customer base, and if they had released the Z10 instead of the god awful Storm they probably wouldn't have lost all the customers that they did.
Not with the cards they have in play. They need the equivalent of a game changer. A "me too look I can do touchscreens and apps" strategy isn't enough.
His statement would have had more impact had he not been checking the clock on the wall while he made it...
You mean 'taking' the clock and pictures from the wall, and emptying his desk/cabinets.
QNX for phones and tablets is dead! However QNX as an embedded OS for automotive, instrumentation, etc. has a bright future and little competition:
http://www.qnx.com/company/30ways/
"Beleaguered Blackberry"
I like it! Much better alliteration than the previous "beleaguered" catch-phrase...
I wonder if Blackberry will become a verb like blackberried or blackburied much like the term Osborne Effect came from Obsorne's poor decision.