[wincyUt]

Very interesting extracts from SA article by Almario Alexej Alcaraz

"John Chen is definitely leading BlackBerry (BBRY) away from zombies of losses. Writedowns from poor sales of phones got minimized with the Foxconn deal.

BlackBerry is on the right path to a Terminus recovery. Operating cash is improved with the sale of real estate assets and by slashing the work force.

Chen cut department heads and replaced them with people he knows who are not yet infected by the walking dead loser virus. BBM might be a new source of food for the company. Mobile advertising is a huge market.

If all sensible metrics are to be applied, BlackBerry is a walking dead company that deserves to be killed with an arrow to the head. I thought the failure of the management last year to find a takeover suitor was precipitating dissolution of the company. However, turnaround hero John Chen�s arrival has made all surviving BBRY investors enjoy a healthy 42% upside run since November. Chen is not as handsome as Rick Grimes or as sexy as Daryl Dixon, but he is super smart and ruthless like Michonne. It was Chen, not Citron Research, who gave BBRY a rapid run beyond the $10 barrier.

BlackBerry Phones Can Be Profitable Again

Chen is also not whiny and indecisive like Rick. Instead of whining about the billions of losses that Z30 and Z10 caused the company, he quickly came up with the Foxconn deal. Chen knows where he wants
BlackBerry to go � back to being profitable on both hardware and services.

Some naysayers said Chen ought to sell the company�s biggest zombie, BlackBerry phones, like what Nokia (NOK) did with its handset division. The man ignored this option because he is way smarter than all of us.

Chen did what Michonne does with zombies, make money-losing assets useable again. Walking Dead fanatics knows Michonne is ruthless and devious. She cut the hands and mouths of two zombies. These two harmless zombies are then used as camouflage pets to lure in more zombies so Michonne can kill them with her katana.
Chen, with the painless help of Foxconn, is doing the same trick. BlackBerry�s path to profitability in smartphones no longer exposes the company to inventory writedown like the Z10 did. The new entry-level BlackBerry 10 handset Z3 is perfect for emerging markets like Indonesia, China, Latin America, Africa, and India.

Terry Gou is making sure Chen doesn�t get bitten by a big inventory loss again. This new focus on low-ASP approach is a camouflaged attempt for BlackBerry to win back customers who defected to cheap
Android phones. Low-ASP now, high-ASP later is also a good tactic for John Chen.

BlackBerry OS 10.2.1 allows easy installation of Android apps so the Z3, with its large 5-inch display and cheap sub-$200 price, is more like a mini-phablet that ought to attract price-conscious customers. The
phone has decent specs and long battery life. It�s perfect for watching videos, 3D gaming, web surfing and chatting.

The BlackBerry Z30 is also perfect for the company�s enterprise customers. The Z30 is considered to be the best smartphone on the planet. Wrong timing and poor marketing made the Z30 off the radar of many high-end customers - who flocked to the iPhone 5S and Galaxy S4 in 2013.

Thanks to the indomitable presence of BlackBerry in the enterprise market, the Z30 can avoid turning into another zombie disaster like the Z10 was. BlackBerry Z30 sales might also find more success with it being now available in the U.S. for $499 unlocked. Verizon�s (VZ) contract-laden deal with Z30 did not attract many customers. I hope the contract-free availability of the Z30 wins back old BlackBerry fans.

The upcoming Q20 is another low-entry QWERTY classic BlackBerry OS 10 handset which is also potential hit among budget-conscious small enterprises who can�t afford to give its workforce the more expensive models. The QWERTY-equipped Q20 is also great for WeChat, SnapChat, and WhatsApp addicts in Asia and Latin America.

Monetizing BBM

I am skeptical that BBM can make a major impact on the company�s balance sheet this year. However, BBM�s 85 million users are ripe for harvesting. The advertising money that BlackBerry can earn through
BBM might just be tomatoes and potatoes in the near term. However, a few dollars can feed the very hungry BBRY investors.

If BlackBerry can increase its user base to WhatsApp proportion, 400 million users or more, then BBM might become a fat cash cow for BlackBerry in the long term. Otherwise, BBM is just a drain on the
company�s limited resources so it should only be used by paying enterprise/personal customers. Let�s face it, no company will ever buy BBM like Facebook did with WhatsApp. I have more faith in QNX�s potential as a revenue source.

Conclusion

BlackBerry is indeed a walking dead miracle but John Chen is a decisive and smart leader. Chen will lead BBRY survivors who stayed loyal back to profitability. It was not so long ago that BlackBerry was the Governor of smartphones. Its fortune went downhill after 2012. BlackBerry management failed to address the rise of the iPhone and Android zombie plague.

Chen�s arrival is helping BBRY survive. He cut the old department heads. He slashed the work force and sold real estate to improve the company�s cash flow. His vision for the turnaround of BlackBerry will be easily enforced because his new teammates understand (and can implement) his plans. He will heal BlackBerry like he cured Sybase......"

IMHO, this article truly articulates the general consensus about John Chen and how he has been a catalyst in halting or slowing down BlackBerry's out of control downward spiral to certain oblivion.

[pkcable]

Lets gets some of your OWN commentary on this! Don't forget from our rules....

Community Rules & Guidelines - Mobile Nations Forums

Copy/Paste of Articles - Blatant copy/paste of articles from outside sources with no additional commentary is strictly prohibited. Failure to include your own original thoughts or relevant feedback is discouraged. Blatant copy/paste offenders will receive a warning or infraction.

I'm NOT going to hit you with an infraction though.

[wincyUt]

Lets gets some of your OWN commentary on this! Don't forget from our rules....

Community Rules & Guidelines - Mobile Nations Forums

Copy/Paste of Articles - Blatant copy/paste of articles from outside sources with no additional commentary is strictly prohibited. Failure to include your own original thoughts or relevant feedback is discouraged. Blatant copy/paste offenders will receive a warning or infraction.

I'm NOT going to hit you with an infraction though.

Thanks for being so kind and thoughtful. I thought my first line "Very interesting extracts from SA article by Almario Alexej Alcaraz" was sufficient.
PS: I had to attend to some urgent biz and forgot after.

[blackberrywinner]

this is a stupid post

[DJM626]

I think it's a great post because in a nutshell it is showing what steps this man has taken thus far to make this company profitable once again

[wincyUt]

this is a stupid post

Please explain why it is a stupid post. I am always eager to learn from the "WISE".

[Superfly_FR]

this is a stupid post

^^^ This is not matching the rules either ... you don't need to be rude; just explain why, quitely

[sati01]

Chen hasn't done much yet, Thorsten made the deal with Foxconn, Chen just signed. What else, talk a lot and make jokes, I prefer Conan or Letterman for that.

IMO If BlackBerry has a -0.5 EPS or a 0.5 EPS is irrelevant because 93% of the operation is based in two dead businesses: BIS and Hardware. What would really move the price is good news about BES, QNX or BBM. But quarters keep passing and those new businesses don't grow.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Chen hasn't done much yet, Thorsten made the deal with Foxconn, Chen just signed. What else, talk a lot and make jokes, I prefer Conan or Letterman for that.

IMO If BlackBerry has a -0.5 EPS or a 0.5 EPS is irrelevant because 93% of the operation is based in two dead businesses: BIS and Hardware. What would really move the price is good news about BES, QNX or BBM. But quarters keep passing and those new businesses don't grow.

QNX is going to be the Golden Star for BlackBerry!


Once they get finished restructuring and shrinking the company down to its level..