[lawguyman]

BlackBerry Prepared to Move Past Smartphones, CEO Chen Says - Bloomberg Business

Before we overreact, let's focus on the positive. BlackBerry is moving forward with plans for a high end device, clearly the Slider. The negative is that if Slider doesn't turn things around, we may never see another BlackBerry again.

You can argue that he is dooming the Slider before it is ever released. Who wants to buy a phone from a company that is considering getting out of the business? He has to be less frank about this. How about actively trying to sell the phone?

Chen's device strategy has not been great. Classic and Leap are not flying off the shelves. Leap is probably a complete failure. I have no idea what the decision to move forward with these devices was based on but it certainly was not based on listening to his fan base, us.

[Uzi]

At least give us full touch high end device, please!

BlackBerry -Secured to the Core | CB MOD

[JAS0NB0URNE]

How long is a "long time" as he says, is a key question.

Thanks for sharing. I hope it does not come to that, but it seems inevitable at some point.

Posted with my  Classic

[jojo beaconsfield]

It makes my stomach turn when I think of the $500 million or so that they don't have to pay in royalties anymore and now they are depending on 1 phone per year to get back consumers and profit from hardware,1 step forward 2 steps back,lol

[JAS0NB0URNE]

They did reach a five year deal in the beginning of 2014 with Foxconn, so perhaps 2019 is the end point if no turnaround by then. Or perhaps there is some kind of an out-clause in the contract.

Posted with my  Classic

[lawguyman]

It makes my stomach turn when I think of the $500 million or so that they don't have to pay in royalties anymore and now they are depending on 1 phone per year to get back consumers and profit from hardware,1 step forward 2 steps back,lol

One phone is enough if it is successful.

If it is successful, they will make more.

You can't look at any of this as "final." The situation is fluid.

I say scrap the junk phones anyway.

[MarsupilamiX]

Well, time to order an iPhone 6S+.
Sad....

In another interview he said that they want to make only 1-2 phones a year.
Well, time to say farewell to BlackBerry hardware as a whole, in the near future.

The slider running Android *might* actually help BlackBerry to sell the phone, so let's hope the slider comes with the robot OS.
A BB10 slider is DOA. So if that device will be the benchmark if it is worth to stay in the handset business, I'd argue that BlackBerry shouldn't even try.

This is probably the worst possible news for the hardware division I have heard since the 2 devices per year thing.
Saying that you can get the Phone as a professional doesn't inspire confidence either...

Thanks for posting the story!

[JAS0NB0URNE]

Well, time to order an iPhone 6S+.
Sad....

In another interview he said that they want to make only 1-2 phones a year.
Well, time to say farewell to BlackBerry hardware as a whole, in the near future.

The slider running Android *might* actually help BlackBerry to sell the phone, so let's hope the slider comes with the robot OS.
A BB10 slider is DOA. So if that device will be the benchmark if it os worth to stay in handset business, I'd argue that BlackBerry shouldn't even try.

This is probably the worst possible news for the hardware division I have heard since the 2 devices per year thing.
Saying that you can get the Phone as a professional doesn't inspire confidence either...

Thanks for posting the story!

How many phones a year do you think Apple produces?

Posted with my  Classic

[bobby1966]

An Android BlackBerry phone will only be successful if Google Play services comes with it.

If not, then forget it.

Via my Z30 on the Telus network

[MarsupilamiX]

How many phones a year do you think Apple produces?

Posted with my  Classic

When was the last time BlackBerry was comparable to Apple? (probably never)
Apple is in a completely different league than BlackBerry.
Their ASP is incredible.
But currently Apple produces the 5S, the 6 and the 6+. Which are 3 phones (I am uninformed about the 5C. If that one is still getting produced, they have 4 phones a year).
Apple also has a hardware ecosystem of its own with notebooks, tablets, desktops, etc.

If you meant to say launch instead of producing, we are talking about 2 phones a year for Apple.

Then we look at Apple's biggest competitor Samsung.
Samsung is the N1 in terms of world wide sales and the most successful Android manufacturer to date.
They launch what feels like 30 models a year, lots of them being for specific markets.
In terms of high-end offerings, Samsung has 3 phones. The Note line, the Galaxy line and the Edge line.
They, just like Apple, are also highly diversified in terms of other products. Samsung even more so than Apple, because of their vertical integration.

Apart from that, Apple has the best in class ecosystem, the best after market support in the whole industry, the highest satisfaction rating in terms of all smartphone manufacturers, and also earns some 90% of the available profits in the smartphone segment.

BlackBerry has some 0.5% marketshare nowadays. Every suggestion of BlackBerry doing what Apple does/did because it worked for Apple, is nothing else than a delusion.

Or did you mean something else?

Edit: In another thread I talk about 4-5 handsets being a necessity for BlackBerry. Everything else is just too small and unsatisfactory in terms of product portfolio.
2 touch phones (mid and high end) 2 keyboard phones (mid and high end) and one vanity project � la Passport or slider.
That's a product portfolio. You can even kill one of these devices, making them 4, but every manufacturer apart from Apple needs different target markets/income segments.

An Android BlackBerry phone will only be successful if Google Play services comes with it.

If not, then forget it.

Via my Z30 on the Telus network

Absolutely agreed.
An Android without GPservices means that BlackBerry might as well just stay with BB10.

[JAS0NB0URNE]

When was the last time BlackBerry was comparable to Apple? (probably never)
Apple is in a completely different league than BlackBerry.
Their ASP is incredible.
But currently Apple produces the 5S, the 6 and the 6+. Which are 3 phones (I am uninformed about the 5C. If that one is still getting produced, they have 4 phones a year).
Apple also has a hardware ecosystem of its own with notebooks, tablets, desktops, etc.

If you meant to say launch instead of producing, we are talking about 2 phones a year for Apple.

Then we look at Apple's biggest competitor Samsung.
Samsung is the N1 in terms of world wide sales and the most successful Android manufacturer to date.
They launch what feels like 30 models a year, lots of them being for specific markets.
In terms of high-end offerings, Samsung has 3 phones. The Note line, the Galaxy line and the Edge line.
They, just like Apple, are also highly diversified in terms of other products. Samsung even more so than Apple, because of their vertical integration.

Apart from that, Apple has the best in class ecosystem, the best after market support in the whole industry, the highest satisfaction rating in terms of all smartphone manufacturers, and also earns some 90% of the available profits in the smartphone segment.

BlackBerry has some 0.5% marketshare nowadays. Every suggestion of BlackBerry doing what Apple does/did because it worked for Apple, is nothing else than a delusion.

Or did you mean something else?

Edit: In another thread I talk about 4-5 handsets being a necessity for BlackBerry. Everything else is just too small and unsatisfactory in terms of product portfolio.
2 touch phones (mid and high end) 2 keyboard phones (mid and high end) and one vanity project � la Passport or slider.
That's a product portfolio. You can even kill one of these devices, making them 4, but every manufacturer apart from Apple needs different target markets/income segments.



Absolutely agreed.
An Android without GPservices means that BlackBerry might as well just stay with BB10.

Point being, if he states it's time to go to iPhone because BlackBerry will only launch 1-2 phones a year, it's not as if iPhone does more than that.

Posted with my  Classic

[MarsupilamiX]

Point being, if he states it's time to go to iPhone because BlackBerry will only launch 1-2 phones a year, it's not as if iPhone does more than that.

Posted with my  Classic

BlackBerry launching 1-2 phones a year drastically reduces the chance of it being a phone I want.

I know that I would be happy with an iPhone 6S+.
I also know that a BlackBerry slider would make me happy.
Even a high-end touch device from BlackBerry might be of interest.
But everything that looks like a Classic/Passport is a no go for me.

So, simply on a personal level, I doubt that BlackBerry would release a phone interesting enough for me to want it.

This doesn't stop with me though. Having a limited product portfolio means that you artificially limit your potential customers.
Looking at Apple, this works really well for them. They simply ignore absolutely every market segment under 400$ with their iPhones, thus their ASP is incredibly high.
They have 90% of the possible profits in the smartphone world. They don't need more than 2 launches a year.

BlackBerry however cannot afford that.
BlackBerry needs as many customers as they can probably get. And excluding huge market segments simply isn't a solution here.
(selling their phone for an ASP of 2-3k dollar would be an option. But those 2 phones must be effing impressive to warrant that price tag)

Apple has a completely different strategy than any other player in the market.
Comparing BlackBerry to Apple is pretty much a worthless comparison, because these companies are simply not alike (apart from them being tech corps).

[Fool Guy]

Thankfully i have Z30 who i think is going to last even in 2016 and i hope till then we will be able to see better Tizen or Sailfish or Android even.
And if MS opens WP a bit more we can move there too.

[Fool Guy]

[QUOTE=usman_hidayat19;11814558]At least give us full touch high end device, please!

Amen !!!
But do you think they can here us ?

[eyesopen1111]

[QUOTE=Fool Guy;11814900]

At least give us full touch high end device, please!

Amen !!!
But do you think they can here us ?

At this stage of the game, the Slider is probably the closest thing to a flagship level all-touch device that we�ll get.

[Bbnivende]

I would be focusing on good quality phones running Android and secure BB10.

I would make the high end slider, an all touch and a Passport with a 4:3 screen. No Classic or Leap.

Posted via CB10

[anon(8063781)]

The device strategy should be clear at this point: produce one high end full-touch device. Open as much market share as you can. A glass slab with high quality internals, a high outright purchase price, and a reasonable price on contract. Update it every year to keep it in the news. Let the real cheapskates (like me) buy used.

I think the passport and slider are niche devices that will never capture significant market share. I hate to say that, since I'm a pkb user, but it's true.

Oh, and don't go android unless you intend to shutter the business. It's all about perception. If BB shuts down the device OS, it's another huge failure, another long negative news cycle, and who is going to adopt their security software on the other platforms in the wake of that?

[whatsever]

John Chen told in two interviews they going to continue the phone business with two or one phone's every year instead of four phones. Still the slider is coming and the Dallas/Oslo.

[pbfan]

Chen's device strategy has not been great. Classic and Leap are not flying off the shelves. Leap is probably a complete failure. I have no idea what the decision to move forward with these devices was based on but it certainly was not based on listening to his fan base, us.

Classic was too late. It should have had been the first BB10 to the market. Decision for Leap was probably decided by listening to somebody in India who just left BBRY.

[MarsupilamiX]

Classic was too late. It should have had been the first BB10 to the market. Decision for Leap was probably decided by listening to somebody in India who just left BBRY.

The Classic should have never been made and the only correct phone for an initial launch would have been the Z30 (or any other better touchscreen device).

You imply that the Classic would have gotten a bigger part of the BBOS users to upgrade, which I think is wrong.

When BB10 launched, most BBOS devices around were already cheap curves, mostly supported by emerging markets/3rd world countries.
Another big chunk were enterprise users.

And both of these groups had, or started to have enough of BBOS by then.

By now I am pretty sure that most BBOS were lost anyhow, simply because the phones were overpriced and incredibly limited at the end. People had enough of BlackBerry.
So if BB10 wouldn't be nearly on par with iOS and Android in terms of functionality when it launches, BBOS users won't get convinced.

Imho this is what happened, and not having launched the Z10 first, but yet another antiquated keyboard device nobody wants anymore (under 0.1% marketshare at this point, for that form factor) would have made for an even more catastrophical BB10 launch.
Launching the Z10 first, before a keyboard device came to the market, was one of the best decisions T.Heins made as the BlackBerry CEO.


Agreed about the Leap though, that phone just makes no sense at all, at the price point they are selling the device for.

[Bishkin]

Totally agree with Chen that Blackberry should stop making smartphones if turnaround efforts fail to gain traction. Doing away with marketing smartphones saved money.

[pbfan]

The Classic should have never been made and the only correct phone for an initial launch would have been the Z30 (or any other better touchscreen device).

You imply that the Classic would have gotten a bigger part of the BBOS users to upgrade, which I think is wrong.

When BB10 launched, most BBOS devices around were already cheap curves, mostly supported by emerging markets/3rd world countries.
Another big chunk were enterprise users.

And both of these groups had, or started to have enough of BBOS by then.

By now I am pretty sure that most BBOS were lost anyhow, simply because the phones were overpriced and incredibly limited at the end. People had enough of BlackBerry.
So if BB10 wouldn't be nearly on par with iOS and Android in terms of functionality when it launches, BBOS users won't get convinced.

Imho this is what happened, and not having launched the Z10 first, but yet another antiquated keyboard device nobody wants anymore (under 0.1% marketshare at this point, for that form factor) would have made for an even more catastrophical BB10 launch.
Launching the Z10 first, before a keyboard device came to the market, was one of the best decisions T.Heins made as the BlackBerry CEO.


Agreed about the Leap though, that phone just makes no sense at all, at the price point they are selling the device for.

Launching Z10 as the first BB10 made a strategic error. It tried to compete for the consumer market (and by using an unready device!). The consequence was BBRY pushed itself to a nearly bankrupt state. In addition, I estimate that launching Classic (with BBOS runtime) first can improve presious product to market time significantly. This would have had put BBRY in a much better position.

[chenageddon]

Point being, if he states it's time to go to iPhone because BlackBerry will only launch 1-2 phones a year, it's not as if iPhone does more than that.

Yeah, but Apple does a lot more than make iPhones. No hardware company just makes one or two devices per year unless they are the category leader.

[pbfan]

John Chen told in two interviews they going to continue the phone business with two or one phone's every year instead of four phones. Still the slider is coming and the Dallas/Oslo.

This is the other side of story that Bloomberg did not tell.

[mathking606]

Leap was a stupid device and still is. They market it for the person with a startup????? And what is the point of a corporation upgrading their fleet with it when it is just a hybrid between a z30 and z10 with no real upgrades at all.