[Superfly_FR]

Watsa, who has consistently defended the company over the course of its recent decline, confirmed that he does, in fact, want to keep BlackBerry together. Prior to this offer, between Fairfax Financial and his internal money management firm, Hamblin Watsa, he already owned more than 28% of the outstanding shares of BlackBerry.

Did I read 28% ?
Good news on the brand/company front (not discussing about stock, there's a sub-section for that).

Source : Fairfax Financial deal means BlackBerry suddenly has a future again

[carlyincanada]

Good to hear.

[The Aficionado]

I'm happy to hear that. I hope he is also committed to bb10 and to making new handsets. Even if they abandon the consumer market and design them exclusively as business devices, as long as I can still buy them I'll be happy

Posted via CB10

[acdne]

Did I read 28% ?

Blackberry consists 28% of his equity portfolio (according to the source). He only owned around 10% as of before the announcement, who knows how much he owns now.

[Superfly_FR]

Blackberry consists 28% of his equity portfolio (according to the source). He only owned around 10% as of before the announcement, who knows how much he owns now.

Thanks (out of button)

[mikeo007]

Your thread title is a stretch, a very long stretch. Watsa has said nothing about keeping the company together. Unless by together you mean chopped to pieces and sold off, while retaining a core enterprise software business. In which case it's still your opinion, but one that at least holds some basis in the realm of possibility.

The quote being attributed to Watsa wanting to "keep Blackberry together" in the article linked is the following:

"We believe this transaction will open an exciting new private chapter for BlackBerry, its customers, carriers and employees. We can deliver immediate value to shareholders, while we continue the execution of a long-term strategy in a private company with a focus on delivering superior and secure enterprise solutions to BlackBerry customers around the world."

Sounds like a lot smaller business that what Blackberry is currently doing, which means something's gotta go. Also, even if he had plans of chopping and selling, he would NEVER state that before the sale of the company went through. What little revenue Blackberry (and his future investment) might accrue from sales of handsets would be obliterated if he immediately stated intentions to sell the company for parts.

[fin2007]

Did I read 28% ?
Good news on the brand/company front (not discussing about stock, there's a sub-section for that)

Source : Fairfax Financial deal means BlackBerry suddenly has a future again

he also said bbry worth $40. Why would you believe such things?

In all, he is a fin investor, not a company savior.

[sleepngbear]

There's also a rumor floating around that they might bring back Mike Lazaridis:

"This is probably the best possible outcome of several unattractive options for BlackBerry," said Jack Gold, principal analyst and founder of J. Gold Associates. "Going private and potentially bringing back the founder of the company, Mike Lazaridis (as has been rumored) could buy them some time to put the house in order."

Fairfax sets floor for BlackBerry with $4.7 billion offer

At this point, I'd more than welcome it. He may have been blind to the threats to his business, but he had the vision that made BlackBerry define the market for a time. If he were back in the fold, I'd feel a whole lot better that they do actually want to make a run at making the company successful again. $56 million poorer, but successful.

[Thunderbuck]

Your thread title is a stretch, a very long stretch. Watsa has said nothing about keeping the company together. Unless by together you mean chopped to pieces and sold off, while retaining a core enterprise software business. In which case it's still your opinion, but one that at least holds some basis in the realm of possibility.

The quote being attributed to Watsa wanting to "keep Blackberry together" in the article linked is the following:

"We believe this transaction will open an exciting new private chapter for BlackBerry, its customers, carriers and employees. We can deliver immediate value to shareholders, while we continue the execution of a long-term strategy in a private company with a focus on delivering superior and secure enterprise solutions to BlackBerry customers around the world."

Sounds like a lot smaller business that what Blackberry is currently doing, which means something's gotta go. Also, even if he had plans of chopping and selling, he would NEVER state that before the sale of the company went through. What little revenue Blackberry (and his future investment) might accrue from sales of handsets would be obliterated if he immediately stated intentions to sell the company for parts.

It's fair to be skeptical at this point. I don't agree with this assessment, though. For one thing, I'd bet that Mike L. WILL be coming back in the course of this deal (and I think they're avoiding mention of him right now due to the optics of returning the "old guard" back to leadership). I have trouble believing that Mike L would return just for the sake of dismantling his own baby.

There's a way forward for BlackBerry. Fire-sale Z10s will broaden the userbase quickly, and the Jelly Bean runtime makes porting Android apps a much more attractive proposition for major publishers. By the end of the year this could be looking a lot brighter, WITHOUT meaning the dismantling of the company.

[kevinnugent]

"delivering superior and secure enterprise solutions"

This tells me BB10 and consumers are gone.

[sixpacker]

"delivering superior and secure enterprise solutions"

This tells me BB10 and consumers are gone.

Indeed. Only a pie in the sky fantasist would believe otherwise.

[mikeo007]

There's a way forward for BlackBerry. Fire-sale Z10s will broaden the userbase quickly, and the Jelly Bean runtime makes porting Android apps a much more attractive proposition for major publishers. By the end of the year this could be looking a lot brighter, WITHOUT meaning the dismantling of the company.

I've seen you make this claim before, but didn't bother commenting. However, you seem to be spreading it further than a single thread. This is patently untrue. The JB runtime adds very little in terms of features or compatibility that weren't already there in the old runtime. It will do almost nothing to draw developers into porting who weren't already interested in it before. Only a tiny fraction of current Android apps require 4.2.

With blackberry moving to enterprise only, the majority of consumer market app developers will not have any reason to develop for BB10. Apps will once again be small niche products that fail to live up to their counterparts on other platforms (not like that isn't already the case).

[Jennifer Ryans]

What do people think Watsa is going to say right now? That he plans on chopping up BBRY like a stolen car??...LOL. Of course he says he plans on keeping long term, what potential buyer ever say they are going to break up company before it is actually theirs?? Come on people use a little common sense.

[mikeo007]

"delivering superior and secure enterprise solutions"

This tells me BB10 and consumers are gone.

Bingo. The company as it is right now is dead. They've already announced their intention to pull out of the consumer market. That's not going to change with fairfax footing the bills. The only thing that will change is the timeframe. There will now be a sense of urgency as the new investors attempt to realize a return on investment.

[mikeo007]

What do people think Watsa is going to say right now? That he plans on chopping up BBRY like a stolen car??...LOL. Of course he says he plans on keeping long term, what potential buyer ever say they are going to break up company before it is actually theirs?? Come on people use a little common sense.

If you haven't noticed, common sense is a quality that is most often lacking in topics around here. Emotion and blind faith usually lead the way.

[FSeverino]

"delivering superior and secure enterprise solutions"

This tells me BB10 and consumers are gone.

Then why do they need 'carriers'...

Posted via CB10

[m1a1mg]

Superfly_FR is a true believer. I don't think he's ever pretended to be anything else. I'll give him credit that he always cautions others into following his ideas.

He should have added a caution to this thread. You must, above all else, remember the PW is spending other folks money. He has someone to answer to, besides Mrs. Watsa.

Finally, Bringing back Mike L. is a monumentally bad idea. Sure, Mike L. had the great idea that started RIMM, but what has he done lately, other than drag the company down?

[kevinnugent]

Then why do they need 'carriers'...

Posted via CB10

BES devices still use carriers.

[mikeo007]

BES devices still use carriers.

They also need them to sell some of the remaining BB stock so that there's some sort of income flowing in. Telling them to f-off is likely after the company begins it's transition, but until then, Prem and Co. need to play nice with the carriers.

[TioPepe78]

It's fair to be skeptical at this point. I don't agree with this assessment, though. For one thing, I'd bet that Mike L. WILL be coming back in the course of this deal (and I think they're avoiding mention of him right now due to the optics of returning the "old guard" back to leadership). I have trouble believing that Mike L would return just for the sake of dismantling his own baby.

There's a way forward for BlackBerry. Fire-sale Z10s will broaden the userbase quickly, and the Jelly Bean runtime makes porting Android apps a much more attractive proposition for major publishers. By the end of the year this could be looking a lot brighter, WITHOUT meaning the dismantling of the company.

I totally agree with you, my personal thought is that Fairfax, and the people behind see value of the company as a whole and not to sell in pieces. Anyway time will tell, but hopefully we'll keep enjoying our Blackberries for the years to come.

[travaz]

I wonder if the head of Marketing is lookin for a new job?

[igor10000]

If you haven't noticed, common sense is a quality that is most often lacking in topics around here. Emotion and blind faith usually lead the way.

While common sense might be lacking here, sense of drama is not. I wish I could get a euro for each occurrence of "dead", "game over", "the end", "DOA", etc ever since last Friday

[berklon]

People on this forum keep getting stuck at the denial stage of grief.

Handsets are dead... gonzo... finished... 86'ed, etc.

Blackberry CANNOT compete with the big boys and if you think their name was mud before, it's even worse now.
Who's going to want to buy a Blackberry phone now after all this turmoil? People didn't want to buy them even when they were on their comeback trail.

The Blackberry you all know is gone. There will be no consumer market - their last attempt will be putting all their eggs in the enterprise software basket.

[punbb]

I don't care who owns blackberry. I love the phones and am struggling with this stupid piece of crap iPhone 4S right now. I will continue to buy bb phones until the day they are no longer available.

[SecondLight2]

I don't care who owns blackberry. I love the phones and am struggling with this stupid piece of crap iPhone 4S right now. I will continue to buy bb phones until the day they are no longer available.

Funny, the majority of the 700+ million iPhone users aren't struggling at all.