The BlackBerry Q10 is small enough to grip with one hand.
BlackBerry: A Rising Phoenix?
MOBILERitika Puri
JUNE 25, 2014
Once upon a time, BlackBerry ruled the corporate communication ecosystem.
Today, technologists call the former mobile giant a “has been” with a market share that has fallen below one percent in the United States and close to zero percent in China.
But hope is not lost. BlackBerry aficionados swear that the once-mobile giant will make a comeback in today’s new world of work — and that 2014 is the year it will happen.
Despite claims that BlackBerry is on its last legs, the company continues to trudge ahead as a force to be reckoned with. But is persistence enough to fuel the company’s comeback? And if so can it regain a share of the ever-demanding and always-changing business professional market?
Never say never.
DISMAL — BUT NOT THAT DISMAL
BlackBerry CEO John Chen gave the company a 50% chance of rebounding. Then, a funny thing happened. In Q4 2013, BlackBerry shocked Wall Street by beating low end estimates — and witnessing a 24% increase in its stock price. Stock prices in Q2, according to Yahoo! Finance, have decreased slightly and are currently hovering between $7 and $8 per share.
As Mashable’s Todd Wasserman reported, Chen has focused on trimming costs to streamline BlackBerry’s operations, resulting in an increase in gross margin to 43% from 34% in Q3 2014.
BlackBerry is also expanding into new, growing markets including Asia and Latin America.
RELENTLESS FOCUS
Android and iOS devices are consumer-first devices. Their applications extend to multiple segments – designed for a variety of use cases.
BlackBerry, on the other hand, claims that it knows the enterprise market better than any other brand.
In an interview with FierceMobileIT, BlackBerry’s Jeff Holleran explained:
“We are focused on what we consider our core business in enterprise in the large and regulated industries, such as financial and healthcare companies and government agencies. We are able to meet their needs for an end-to-end mobility solution that isn’t possible with any other mobile platform out there today. We also want to fill the need of the users in non-regulated industries that may have the opportunity to have a BYOD device.”
The security and logistical considerations of BYOD are a major pain point for almost every enterprise organization — a need that BlackBerry understands well.
The question is whether the focus BlackBerry provides will ultimately outweigh the customization potential for Android and iOS.
TIMELESS ROOTS
According to Chen, BlackBerry’s future is in the company’s roots. A high-end keyboard is what sparked the much-loved smartphone to take off — and now, the company is realizing that keyboards are what customers want most. Chen said the company is acting on the customer desire:
“I personally love the keyboards. So you will look to Blackberry going forward to do keyboards — I wouldn’t use the word exclusively, but predominantly.”
Chen plans to target government and corporate audiences who value a tactile typing experience – and according to reports from numerous sources including USA Today, Chen has confirmed the next phone, the Passport, to be “a box-like” device. The keyboard is designed to be touch sensitive – but albeit, difficult to squeeze in your pocket.
The question, however, is how big this market actually is — especially with the rise of millennial corporate consumers who are highly comfortable with their beloved touch-screens.
Is BlackBerry on to something or simply out of options?
Will businesses embrace the return of its once beloved technology or has today’s highly transformative workplace moved too far into the future?
Time will tell the answer.
Once upon a time, BlackBerry ruled the corporate communication ecosystem.
Today, technologists call the former mobile giant a “has been” with a market share that has fallen below one percent in the United States and close to zero percent in China.
But hope is not lost. BlackBerry aficionados swear that the once-mobile giant will make a comeback in today’s new world of work — and that 2014 is the year it will happen.
Despite claims that BlackBerry is on its last legs, the company continues to trudge ahead as a force to be reckoned with. But is persistence enough to fuel the company’s comeback? And if so can it regain a share of the ever-demanding and always-changing business professional market?
Never say never.
DISMAL — BUT NOT THAT DISMAL
BlackBerry CEO John Chen gave the company a 50% chance of rebounding. Then, a funny thing happened. In Q4 2013, BlackBerry shocked Wall Street by beating low end estimates — and witnessing a 24% increase in its stock price. Stock prices in Q2, according to Yahoo! Finance, have decreased slightly and are currently hovering between $7 and $8 per share.
As Mashable’s Todd Wasserman reported, Chen has focused on trimming costs to streamline BlackBerry’s operations, resulting in an increase in gross margin to 43% from 34% in Q3 2014.
BlackBerry is also expanding into new, growing markets including Asia and Latin America.
RELENTLESS FOCUS
Android and iOS devices are consumer-first devices. Their applications extend to multiple segments – designed for a variety of use cases.
BlackBerry, on the other hand, claims that it knows the enterprise market better than any other brand.
In an interview with FierceMobileIT, BlackBerry’s Jeff Holleran explained:
“We are focused on what we consider our core business in enterprise in the large and regulated industries, such as financial and healthcare companies and government agencies. We are able to meet their needs for an end-to-end mobility solution that isn’t possible with any other mobile platform out there today. We also want to fill the need of the users in non-regulated industries that may have the opportunity to have a BYOD device.”
The security and logistical considerations of BYOD are a major pain point for almost every enterprise organization — a need that BlackBerry understands well.
The question is whether the focus BlackBerry provides will ultimately outweigh the customization potential for Android and iOS.
TIMELESS ROOTS
According to Chen, BlackBerry’s future is in the company’s roots. A high-end keyboard is what sparked the much-loved smartphone to take off — and now, the company is realizing that keyboards are what customers want most. Chen said the company is acting on the customer desire:
“I personally love the keyboards. So you will look to Blackberry going forward to do keyboards — I wouldn’t use the word exclusively, but predominantly.”
Chen plans to target government and corporate audiences who value a tactile typing experience – and according to reports from numerous sources including USA Today, Chen has confirmed the next phone, the Passport, to be “a box-like” device. The keyboard is designed to be touch sensitive – but albeit, difficult to squeeze in your pocket.
The question, however, is how big this market actually is — especially with the rise of millennial corporate consumers who are highly comfortable with their beloved touch-screens.
Is BlackBerry on to something or simply out of options?
Will businesses embrace the return of its once beloved technology or has today’s highly transformative workplace moved too far into the future?
Time will tell the answer.
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