[Brewer James]

I believe Blackberry will survive, just like IBM did in the 1970's. Blackberry just needs to understand they're not going to please everyone and once they embrace who they are and what their vision is for the future they can excel.
Blackberry's primary focus should be on the retention of their business accounts. They should focus on what makes them great and that is security and that's what they should be touting, the security of their devices.
They can still have a prescence in the mobile communication business but prehaps not what they once were and that may not be a bad thing. They should continue to focus on emerging markets, not everyone in the world can afford the Iphone or the S4 so Blackberry might be able to carve a prescence into those markets. The key for Blackberry is to get the deivces into consumers hands and to get the consumer to give their products a chance. They need to take say 300 of their Q10's or Z30's and just give them to students at say Florida St., Michigan or Arizona St to create a buzz about their products. I feel if people actually had the products to use they would begin to like Blackberry again, it's really all about getting the product into peoples hands and I beleive that has been Blackberry's biggest challenge to overcome.

[jaydee5799]

Welcome to CrackBerry!
I kinda like your idea about doling out some BBs for students to use!!! How many times have we been in a carrier store and not been able to FIND a BlackBerry device in the place???
I'd vote for your idea!

[southlander]

Yeah but part of the reason I like BlackBerrys is because I like CrackBerry. Believe it or not. So show me a site like CrackBerry for IBM product enthusiasts that resembles CB.

I mean yeah that's good for BB if they can survive but consumers generally don't care about anything IBM does. And they won't care about BB if all it does is MDM software and services.

[Shlooky]

BB may end up being a software only company focused on security and providing enterprise management software etc.

Everything else will be gone or sold in chunks.

[GTiLeo]

BB may end up being a software only company focused on security and providing enterprise management software etc.

Everything else will be gone or sold in chunks.

then i don't think i'd ever buy another phone, i'd keep my Z10 until it craps out, i can't stand Apple as a brand i don't like Android, i don't like the metro UI of windows phone.

[earlym]

BB may end up being a software only company focused on security and providing enterprise management software etc.

Everything else will be gone or sold in chunks.

This came to me last evening as well!

I think that if they license the security portion of their prowess, then ALL phones Android and iOS could tout, "Built with Blackberry Security" or something to this effect.

Licensing their security could be tied to each phone and produce a stunning revenue stream.

Go BB!

[Shlooky]

This came to me last evening as well!

I think that if they license the security portion of their prowess, then ALL phones Android and iOS could tout, "with Blackberry Security" or something to this effect.

Licensing their security could be tied to each phone and produce a stunning revenue stream.

Go BB!

Exactly :-)

[Nathend]

I believe Blackberry will survive, just like IBM did in the 1970's. Blackberry just needs to understand they're not going to please everyone and once they embrace who they are and what their vision is for the future they can excel.
Blackberry's primary focus should be on the retention of their business accounts. They should focus on what makes them great and that is security and that's what they should be touting, the security of their devices.
They can still have a prescence in the mobile communication business but prehaps not what they once were and that may not be a bad thing. They should continue to focus on emerging markets, not everyone in the world can afford the Iphone or the S4 so Blackberry might be able to carve a prescence into those markets. The key for Blackberry is to get the deivces into consumers hands and to get the consumer to give their products a chance. They need to take say 300 of their Q10's or Z30's and just give them to students at say Florida St., Michigan or Arizona St to create a buzz about their products. I feel if people actually had the products to use they would begin to like Blackberry again, it's really all about getting the product into peoples hands and I beleive that has been Blackberry's biggest challenge to overcome.

1st BB is not IBM or will ever be.
They have little left in terms of Business accounts and there so called Future and Vision is EXACTLY why they are in the state they are in right now. They simply missed the boat !
Focus on emerging markets , because not everyone can afford an Iphone or S4 ? Have you been keeping up to current events ?
Apple is set to release the Iphone 5c shortly and Samsung is dropping the S4 price so as to make it on par or cheaper then the 5c . Not to mention there are TONS of Android phones right now that are cheaper and provide more then BB ever did.
BB can't even sell it's current phone and make profit , forget about the BB ability to capture emerging markets.
So your idea is to Give Away Q10's and Z10's to students ? If that was a great Idea the first Company to do that would have been APPLE and or MS. The reality is that it will not save a Company that it having a hard time keep it's books in the Profit Category , the is more complicated then Lets just give out free phones. ya , not gonna work. The board would just look at you and wonder what you have been smoking.
BUZZ <-- Ya well, that is what a Marketing Dept is for and ask ANY BB user here or anywhere and it is safe to concede that this the 1 area BB failed at , and that is not just now but over the last 5 yrs if not more. BB= BadBuzz or No Buzz. But hey ! they have Money and no dept !
There have been people that have tried it in there hands and loved it, but also there have been people that have used it and returned it simply because it's not the Device it's self that they dislike, but the fact they either cant find an APP they wanted or they did not want to connect there device to a Computer to Side load Apps. That has been a major Issue. BB should have addressed this LONG AGO, instead they tried to ride on the sidelines of Android . Major Failure.

[Nathend]

then i don't think i'd ever buy another phone, i'd keep my Z10 until it craps out, i can't stand Apple as a brand i don't like Android, i don't like the metro UI of windows phone.

True , but think about it, You'd have a device that would be EOL ( end of line ) no support, No Updates, No new Apps , no fixes or Firmware fixes for new issues , basically a smartphone that is not very smart. Working phone yes, but with no ecosystem and No more Support or Support apps or development. Not very worth while.

[Roo Zilla]

This came to me last evening as well!

I think that if they license the security portion of their prowess, then ALL phones Android and iOS could tout, "Built with Blackberry Security" or something to this effect.

Licensing their security could be tied to each phone and produce a stunning revenue stream.

Go BB!

No. Basically because Android and iOS sells fine without the "BlackBerry Security" features. Why would Apple, Samsung, Sony, Lenovo, et. al. be interested in paying for something they don't need? They're not.

[Brewer James]

IBM was an analogy, wasn't trying to say Blackberry and IBM are exactly the same. In the 70's IBM was the main computer maker and then Apple came along with their PC's and IBM was no longer King of PC's. They still survived, which is the message I was trying to get across.

[Brewer James]

Thanks! I think if Blackberry had done that with the Z10 and even paid one month of service to get the device in the hands of consumers it might have done better in sales. I think it might have been money well spent.

[Brewer James]

little in terms of business accounts, really? They still have 72,000,000 users and I'm sure many of those are business accounts. It's not always about apps, sometimes it comes down to price. Blackberry's biggest problem is negative perception. The idea of placing 300 of their new devices in the hands to students I believe was worth doing. They could've seen that the Z10 isn't a bad device. They needed to get their device into the hands of consumers and it's an idea I think they should've tried.

[galleon]

I too believe Blackberry will survive, but what's going to be left for us as consumers is a dubious question in my head. As soon as the QWERTY devices are off the table, its going to be me and many others that won't really care anymore and will walk off sheepishly. I will hang on to my Q10 til it quits breathing meanwhile.

[mkelley65]

IBM was an analogy, wasn't trying to say Blackberry and IBM are exactly the same. In the 70's IBM was the main computer maker and then Apple came along with their PC's and IBM was no longer King of PC's. They still survived, which is the message I was trying to get across.

I'm not sure you were even alive in the 70s after this statement. The first IBM PC was released on Aug 12, 1981. The Apple 1 came online in 1976 but was NEVER mainstream. It only lasted a year. Apple IIs replaced it but the PC king in those days was the Tandy TRS-80. When IBM released the first PCs they tied them into their heavily leveraged mainframe business and became the dominant player in a span of months. They didn't lose the PC lead until Compaq started making clones cheaper. IBM lost it's way when it insisted Microsoft make OS/2 run on a 286 which was IBM's largest installed base as 386s were just rolling out. That was way in 1987.
IBM's problems were never about sales. It was about bloat. The company had just grown too large to sustain itself. They have trimmed down since.

[tmb2013]

True , but think about it, You'd have a device that would be EOL ( end of line ) no support, No Updates, No new Apps , no fixes or Firmware fixes for new issues , basically a smartphone that is not very smart. Working phone yes, but with no ecosystem and No more Support or Support apps or development. Not very worth while.

the reality is that all of us with BB10 devices are already holding EOL devices. I doubt there will ever be another BB10 device released and i do not expect to ever see a release of BB10.2 to the public.

we have got all that we are going to get.

Sadly.

[Kendall Oei]

True , but think about it, You'd have a device that would be EOL ( end of line ) no support, No Updates, No new Apps , no fixes or Firmware fixes for new issues , basically a smartphone that is not very smart. Working phone yes, but with no ecosystem and No more Support or Support apps or development. Not very worth while.

BBRY is not disappearing at this point, so there is likely to be support. Many of us don't need the latest greatest apps. I have purchased lots of apps and my device is about how I need it to be. If the technology of other companies leaps ahead, I might get something new. But in the current state, I will stick with my Z10 until it dies too.

[tmb2013]

little in terms of business accounts, really? They still have 72,000,000 users and I'm sure many of those are business accounts. It's not always about apps, sometimes it comes down to price. Blackberry's biggest problem is negative perception. The idea of placing 300 of their new devices in the hands to students I believe was worth doing. They could've seen that the Z10 isn't a bad device. They needed to get their device into the hands of consumers and it's an idea I think they should've tried.

First, we have no idea how many users BB actually have. The 72MM number was from the last earnings report. It will be interesting to see the numbers this time around as I expect they will be sobering, to say the least.

BB cannot and does not, compete on price. They seem oblivious to price frankly. We are a BB only shop, and have been for years. I can tell you that within a few months we will be an iOS only shop as the cost escalation to running our business with BB10 instead of BBOS has been staggering. We have approximately 5,000 units rolled out, in Canada, the cost impact of BB10 has been increases in the region of many 100's of % increase. We are only just starting to realize it and the reality is that destroying all of those units and buying iOS units outright for everyone will be a cost savings.

As to BB security, in the brave new world of BB10 the BB platform is no more secure than any other. There is nothing to sell there. CB people need to accept that. BB10 has nothing to do with security.

[dmits]

Wrong decade IBM "was" computers throughout the 80's and into 90's when they saw the real market was not PC hardware but everything else as BlackBerry should be so they sold that part off to Lenovo. But BB is definitely no IBM. Apple was stuck in schools and publishing houses because the first fanboys loved the googly eyes and flying toasters. Value Points for business PC's and Aptivas for consumers were it. They were PC's and every other PC company was called IBM compatible. They had some layoffs in the 90's with management, system analysts and system engineers but were always growing and were never in a hole like BB has dug into. I love my 2 Z10's and Q10 and still use a 9930. I have a Droid Maxx HD that I like alot and have broken three cheap *** S4's already. BlackBerry needs to get into systems and use the companies they have aquired more. NEC is the analogy you should have used when they were big with their MIPS and RISC desktops with 3.51 or Slackware 1.0 and got out of that and went fully into systems.

[Jet Mijares]

I still love blackberry. They just have to figure things out and to not compete with android and ios(for now). They should have their own thing..whats important is get more apps for the bb10..

Posted via CB10

[scribacco]

No. Basically because Android and iOS sells fine without the "BlackBerry Security" features. Why would Apple, Samsung, Sony, Lenovo, et. al. be interested in paying for something they don't need? They're not.

What security are you talking about? enough with this fantasy..
Most common encryption protocols are useless against NSA surveillance, new leak reveals | The Verge

[Harrison Cole]

Consumers may not, but anyone in the business or tech industry knows that IBM is arguably the most successful tech company ever.

Posted via CB10