[Tony Morfin]

It's unfortunate that BlackBerry Ltd has been run by the wrong people in the last 8 years, history shows us that the company needs a rotation of CEO after every 4 years, to allow a new guy to come in and shake things up and bring a new strategy for the company's future, John Chen did a great job on stopping BlackBerry from bleeding to death in his first 3 years, but now when he is asked, he has no solid plan for the future, I think it's time for Chen to step out and let someone else who has a strong hold on marketing to come in and take BlackBerry into a new direction..

Posted via CB10

[Troy Tiscareno]

Chen has a plan for the future - and has from the beginning. The issue isn't that he doesn't have a plan, the issue is that you don't LIKE the plan because it doesn't include smartphones - or at the very least, not BB10 smartphones.

But Chen wasn't hired to save the smartphone business, he was hired to save BB the company, and more to the point, to protect shareholder value - which is the job of any CEO. And he's done that. The board and the investors are relatively satisfied with the job that he's done, and they're the ones who matter.

What BB smartphone fans think is irrelevant unless they hold 100,000 or more shares of the company.

[Doggerz]

The confusion lies in what is BlackBerry? 8 years ago it was handsets. Now, people are arguing that Chen is doing a great job saving a comapny that I could care less about. If he isn't saving handsets he isn't saving the BlackBerry I know and love.

So when the OP says what he is saying, I know he means handsets. And when people say Chen is not here to save handsets then I say I don't give a crap about what he's trying to save. BlackBerry can live or die and it doesn't matter to me at all if BlackBerry doesn't mean handsets.

I wish someone with vision would buy BlackBerry. Because the BlackBerry board of directors and Chen both lack any desire to help the comapny I care about.

Chen sucks and I'd rather see them rename the company to Chen Corp so BlackBerry can have an honorable death. Instead of being treated like a zombie.

Either save the handsets or end it. Chen can shove his thumb somewhere and pound sand for all I care.

Z5 - E6853 / Android 6.0 / T-Mobile USA

[beowulf101]

BlackBerry is doing fine with its carving out a new niche and leaving phones behind. Just as they dropped pagers and became a smartphone company, they're now progressing again in on prem and off prem secure storage, crisis management communications and device security.

Did you know that At Hoc, a BlackBerry product was used in coordinating efficient response and information during the Bataclan massacre? These tools guard us all, help businesses stay secure and protect private citizens in times of severe duress.

I love the new BlackBerry, and find it more admirable now than at any other time in its history. It doesn't need a new CEO, but it does need phone fans to let go of its legacy.

Posted via CB10

[Polt]

BlackBerry is doing fine with its carving out a new niche and leaving phones behind. Just as they dropped pagers and became a smartphone company, they're now progressing again in on prem and off prem secure storage, crisis management communications and device security.

Did you know that At Hoc, a BlackBerry product was used in coordinating efficient response and information during the Bataclan massacre? These tools guard us all, help businesses stay secure and protect private citizens in times of severe duress.

I love the new BlackBerry, and find it more admirable now than at any other time in its history. It doesn't need a new CEO, but it does need phone fans to let go of its legacy.

Posted via CB10

True, IBM used to make awesome laptops, but now they don't. Which is sad but they still rule the market of business machines.

[JeepBB]

Several years ago I posted my prediction that BB would exit hardware. I even mentioned that along the way, BB would release an Android phone as a Hail Mary throw... and predicted that it would fail in the market due to lack of USP's and price.

I'm not claiming special powers of being able to see the future, for BB, special powers aren't required. All that is necessary is to listen to what BB says!

Chen has made no secret of where he's taking BB. He has publicly stated that there will be no further BB10 phones or development, or BB10 updates beyond security, and has even stressed that the last of the two updates is about a year away. BB10 isn't coming back - it almost cost the company, and I'm sure the BB Board still have recurring nightmares about it.

Android is also going away. No special powers needed there either. Chen has publicly stated the success criteria for continuing with Android, and said he'll close Hardware if those criteria aren't met... The Priv isn't selling. The criteria aren't being met. The conclusion as to the future of hardware is obvious.

As Troy says, Chen's mission was never to save either BB10 or Hardware. The Board support everything Chen is doing, because they were the people who gave Chen that mission!

BB couldn't simply close Hardware 3 years ago, it was a sizable chunk of the revenue. It's a lot smaller now, as is the part of BB responsible for the hardware.

In that post of a few years ago, I also posed the question of what would happen to the fans. I reckoned that most would leave because, as has been said, their interest lies in the phones not in the company. Few here have any interest in discussing MDM software. I also predicted that a few here would rail against a phone-less future, and refuse to accept what Chen has frequently stated.

They'd look for ambiguity in the words, or invent some compelling reason for BB to be forced to continue making phones (like the spurious "need" to support government clients forever more)... All to justify that the phones had a future, and *must* continue.

Eventually, acceptance will come for the majority of BB phone fans, and they'll drift away. The forums here will become the exclusive haunt of the few willing to play "coulda, shoulda, woulda" games on where BB went wrong... some of those debates might be interesting, so I'll probably visit, but none of those posts will change the written history of BB Hardware... which is soon to be over.

[ams083]

Here we go again...

ClassicSQC100-1/10.3.2.2876

[jojon2se]

The problem with hatchet men, is that they invariably seem to begin with chopping out the actual talent who produce whatever products or services actually generate income for the company.

Then they are left with almost only management, that bosses around an ever more overworked skeleton crew of workers, whose synergy has been shredded, and wonder why customers leave in droves; Why would they want the quality they've become accustomed to, after all.

Not that they care; The're getting their bonus, for reducing expenses...

This keeps happening, every day, to (EDIT: ...so far..) healthy companies.

[Ronindan]

The problem with hatchet men, is that they invariably seem to begin with chopping out the actual talent who produce whatever products or services actually generate income for the company.

Then they are left with almost only management, that bosses around an ever more overworked skeleton crew of workers, whose synergy has been shredded, and wonder why customers leave in droves; Why would they want the quality they've become accustomed to, after all.

Not that they care; The're getting their bonus, for reducing expenses...

This keeps happening, every day, to (EDIT: ...so far..) healthy companies.

Your point is true if bb hardware division was actually profitable.

[kvndoom]

The confusion lies in what is BlackBerry? 8 years ago it was handsets. Now, people are arguing that Chen is doing a great job saving a comapny that I could care less about. If he isn't saving handsets he isn't saving the BlackBerry I know and love.

If only it was all about you...

BlackBerry Classic non-camera, Cricket Wireless

[MikeX74]

The confusion lies in what is BlackBerry? 8 years ago it was handsets. Now, people are arguing that Chen is doing a great job saving a comapny that I could care less about. If he isn't saving handsets he isn't saving the BlackBerry I know and love.

So when the OP says what he is saying, I know he means handsets. And when people say Chen is not here to save handsets then I say I don't give a crap about what he's trying to save. BlackBerry can live or die and it doesn't matter to me at all if BlackBerry doesn't mean handsets.

I wish someone with vision would buy BlackBerry. Because the BlackBerry board of directors and Chen both lack any desire to help the comapny I care about.

Chen sucks and I'd rather see them rename the company to Chen Corp so BlackBerry can have an honorable death. Instead of being treated like a zombie.

Either save the handsets or end it. Chen can shove his thumb somewhere and pound sand for all I care.

Z5 - E6853 / Android 6.0 / T-Mobile USA

If BB isn't becoming the company you love, maybe it's time for you to find another company to love.

[togarika]

The problem with hatchet men, is that they invariably seem to begin with chopping out the actual talent who produce whatever products or services actually generate income for the company.

Then they are left with almost only management, that bosses around an ever more overworked skeleton crew of workers, whose synergy has been shredded, and wonder why customers leave in droves; Why would they want the quality they've become accustomed to, after all.

Not that they care; The're getting their bonus, for reducing expenses...

This keeps happening, every day, to (EDIT: ...so far..) healthy companies.

It's all about short term gains. No one wants to invest long term anymore. They just want to gain as much as they can as soon as they can. The CEO is doing what the board wants him to do and in turn the board is doing what the shareholders want them to do. The customer is the one who loses out in the end.

BB10 or Nothing! BlackBerry Forever!

[jojon2se]

Your point is true if bb hardware division was actually profitable.

Which is why I made a point of this happening even to healthy companies (...and killing them), with an implicit following: "never mind un-healthy ones".

Offering less quality, in product and service (...regardless of whether any division of BB ever had either), and cutting off long term viability (throttling R&D, and liquidating vital assets, for a one-time quick buck to wave before shareholders), is hardly a compelling proposition to customers, unless we're talking those who are just looking for the lowest bidder, and as for competing in that space... well...

[Ronindan]

It's all about short term gains. No one wants to invest long term anymore. They just want to gain as much as they can as soon as they can. The CEO is doing what the board wants him to do and in turn the board is doing what the shareholders want them to do. The customer is the one who loses out in the end.

BB10 or Nothing! BlackBerry Forever!

Actually Chen's direction for BB is about longterm gain. What they are doing is similar to what IBM did when IBM moved away from being a hardware manufacturer back to a BI company.

And more importantly the only reason you don't like what Chen is doing is because you want BB to keep making smartphones. Understandable but try not to use it as some astute observation on investor behavior. Some investors invest for long term gain, while others for short-term profit. And as a company you try to attract both.

[Ronindan]

Which is why I made a point of this happening even to healthy companies (...and killing them), with an implicit following: "never mind un-healthy ones".

Offering less quality, in product and service (...regardless of whether any division of BB ever had either), and cutting off long term viability (throttling R&D, and liquidating vital assets, for a one-time quick buck to wave before shareholders), is hardly a compelling proposition to customers, unless we're talking those who are just looking for the lowest bidder, and as for competing in that space... well...

Please provide an example of a healthy company being chopped up even though that said company is doing well.

[Tony Morfin]

To all the faithful BB10 users..

Posted via CB10

[xtremeled]

It's unfortunate that BlackBerry Ltd has been run by the wrong people in the last 8 years, history shows us that the company needs a rotation of CEO after every 4 years, to allow a new guy to come in and shake things up and bring a new strategy for the company's future, John Chen did a great job on stopping BlackBerry from bleeding to death in his first 3 years, but now when he is asked, he has no solid plan for the future, I think it's time for Chen to step out and let someone else who has a strong hold on marketing to come in and take BlackBerry into a new direction..

Posted via CB10

The problem isn't Chen, The problem is you! BB's future simply doesn't include you! Customers like you need to get over it and move on. Learn to live with disappointment most other BB users have

[Prem WatsApp]

To all the faithful BB10 users..

Posted via CB10

As in the pufferfish doing its last breath on land?
We're not at that stage yet. Android isn't there where BlackBerry needs it to be... :-)

�   There's a Crack in the Berry right now...   �

[xtremeled]

Android isn't there where BlackBerry needs it to be...

Android on BB was an experiment and it has failed miserably, Again. Mark my words, BB is done as a handset maker. Their market share goes down every 1/4 and the sales of the Priv, well, calling the sales a disappointment would be an understatement.
You cant build a division around 600,000 units sold. It's not enough to sustain life.

[anon(6038817)]

Chen has done exactly what he was hired to do: save BlackBerry the company. That couldn't have been done any other way than the way he has done it. Handsets ceased to be profitable for BlackBerry when they were still RIM and Mike and Jim were in charge. Attempts have been made to keep the handset business around, but if it doesn't make sense financially and is not absolutely critical to their future success as a company, why keep doing it?

I love BlackBerry phones and I wish things had turned out differently, but I understand why Chen and the board have made the moves they have. And, frankly, they are in a much better position to make decisions about BlackBerry's future and how it is run than I am. I'm just a fan of the phones, and they do so much more than make phones.

I have to chuckle at the armchair CEOs rehashing the same old rhetoric as if it's something new that would magically turn BlackBerry into a dominant force in smartphones and have people dropping their iPhones and Samsungs and flocking to BlackBerry by the millions.

BlackBerry is not a "smartphone maker" anymore. It is a software and services company that also happens to make smartphones (for now).

That said, I personally plan to use a BB10 device as my daily driver for as long as possible. It's just that good.

BB10 is dead. Long live BB10.

Posted from my  Z10 via CB10

[JulesDB]

Chen has a plan for the future - and has from the beginning. The issue isn't that he doesn't have a plan, the issue is that you don't LIKE the plan because it doesn't include smartphones - or at the very least, not BB10 smartphones.

But Chen wasn't hired to save the smartphone business, he was hired to save BB the company, and more to the point, to protect shareholder value - which is the job of any CEO. And he's done that. The board and the investors are relatively satisfied with the job that he's done, and they're the ones who matter.

What BB smartphone fans think is irrelevant unless they hold 100,000 or more shares of the company.

Troy: to shrink hardware division and expand software division IT IS NOT a plan.

His lack of vision and poor execution it's under everyone 's eyes: as a BBRY shareholder I can't care less about smartphones but software is not anywhere near to what it needs to be and Chen is clearly throwing away value when he comes out with Priv that was an abysmal failure.

Nothing truly new about software, no new inventions, just spending money in acquiring ailing competitor companies... Hhmm what a plan!!

Now, talking about SOFTWARE and what you call PLAN, he goes out with TWO Android announced failures while talking to the press about shutting down hardware division, what a genius!!!

Go figure...

Sorry for my poor english...Posted via CB10

[web99]

Troy: to shrink hardware division and expand software division IT IS NOT a plan...

Sorry for my poor english...Posted via CB10

@JulesDB, the actions that CEO John Chen has taken since being brought on board and the statement that he has made all point to growing BlackBerry's Software and services Division

In a year it's revenue has grown 104%, as mentioned in BlackBerry's last ER. He also achieved the target of $500 million in software and services revenue.

The other point is that there is an annual shareholders meeting where the CEO outlines his vision for the company. The shareholders have the option to either approve or not to approve his tenure as CEO and they have unanimously approved him. This means that even though you may disagree with his vision, the majority of the shareholders agree with him.

It's definitely BlackBerry's plan and it makes sense as hardware sales are beginning to level out. Lower hardware sales are not only imparting BlackBerry, but also other companies such as HTC, Sony, Samsung and others.

Posted via my BlackBerry Priv

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Troy: to shrink hardware division and expand software division IT IS NOT a plan.

His lack of vision and poor execution it's under everyone 's eyes: as a BBRY shareholder I can't care less about smartphones but software is not anywhere near to what it needs to be and Chen is clearly throwing away value when he comes out with Priv that was an abysmal failure.

Nothing truly new about software, no new inventions, just spending money in acquiring ailing competitor companies... Hhmm what a plan!!

Now, talking about SOFTWARE and what you call PLAN, he goes out with TWO Android announced failures while talking to the press about shutting down hardware division, what a genius!!!

Go figure...

Sorry for my poor english...Posted via CB10

I think that IF there had been a way to stay in hardware.... Chen would have. But BB10 was already a failure, Carriers didn't want it, Developers didn't want it, most of business didn't want it and consumers sure didn't want it. Biggest reason was Apps, and Chen had figured out that was out of his control... he tried with Amazon. But Amazon was barley being supported itself.

And the big problem... Android Smartphones were a commodity item, the Z3 showed him that BlackBerry can't compete on hardware and price. Many here wanted the PRIV to be $100 or more less than it was. But BlackBerry isn't in a position to compete..... the deal in low volume and have 3rd parties manufacturing and controlling the inventory. These 3rd parties don't do it for free....


The real problem for Chen was when he realized that BlackBerry's services and software... was almost as worthless as it's hardware.

QNX had been working on IoT long before he showed up... but BlackBerry was late to the game and really wasn't getting any traction in IoT.
BES was tied too closely to hardware, yes they had added "some" support for iOS and Android, but it was too little too late there too. BES12 didn't improve the situation. The money Chen spent on acquiring other security focused communication software companies... was so that BlackBerry had something to build on.

Android... think that was more of a stop gap revenue generator and not an attempt to really stay in hardware. It's kinda clear from how little Chen invested into the PRIV's marketing that he was not risking too much.

But overall, Chen has given the Company a future, something it didn't have before he came onboard.

[markmall]

BBRY's "future" is as a tiny startup software company with a legacy brand name that doesn't match it's diminutive size.

Chen's or Prem's vision as a software company didn't work.

Chen does deserve some blame for BB10's failure. I look at the Passport as the big miss for him. He had been CEO for awhile, and the Passport got substantial media attention. I remember CNBC bits on it, and, I swear, non-Blackberry users were talking about it during a dinner party. Then.... no Passports were available for months. And, of course, Chen did not spend a dime on advertising.

To this day, people are interested -- in a good way -- in my Passport when they see it. They are mesmerized by it. It is a gadget freak's dream. Chen should have seen that even though it was not designed under his watch it was Blackberry's last ticket back to relevancy.

The Android experiment was executed so poorly it's pathetic. That maybe was Chen's second big failure. He is so out of his depth in terms of competing in the Android world that it's sad to watch.

[nt300]

Chen savings BlackBerry? Lol right. More like tanking it well.
Despite the companies Past CHEN further added to the ridiculous nonsense that helped drive this company almost into the ground.
Chen had major opportunities to help secure BB10 as a strong 3rd place WW Competitor, but failed miserably because he CHEAPed out on Advertising and BB10 Dev Support.
Passport was plastered all over the place. Highly unique intuitive mobile OS that was beyond this world. And he Screwed that up too.

He also Screwed up all Z10 and Z30 owners by not offering a upgrade path. Lost many BBRY core customers, then releases BlackBerry 's 1st Android phone and messes that up too. Lol

BlackBerry Experience Suite? Lol Incapable of running on 2007 based iOS and Android. They are too old. But Of Course Chen. Will compromise and make something primitive to work on those Old Obsolete OS's. Due to there Fragile nature.


BlackBerry will not grow as many claim, by software, unless you fire this CEO and Hire someone that actually understands how to do the JOB.

Rocking a Z30