[BanffMoose]

One year ago (the time I started to invest in BBRY) I would definitely choose JC

However, at this moment, I need to know more about JC's real plan before deciding. In my opinion, the roadmap of the company (especially the roadmap for devices) is quite unclear to the public currently.

Posted via CB10

My humble opinion, and take it for what it's worth, is to simply listen to BlackBerry, be it JC, or press releases or the BlackBerry blogs or interviews of BlackBerry executives. Listening to any other source (including this thread) is just noise. Although the regular contributors on this thread try to cut through the noise and provide supplemental evidence as much as possible.

If you listened to BlackBerry, they have been fairly clear and consistent in their messages.


Posted via CB10

[Hende Nicolas]

Has there been any mention of revenue from BBM Channels at all?

Posted via CB10

[Andrew4life]

Has there been any mention of revenue from BBM Channels at all?

Posted via CB10

I doubt BBM channels is making any money.

No one knows about it and there is no easy way to spread the word about it.

Posted via CB10

[BACK-2-BLACK]

I second this. It also doesn't help when rumours of an Android phone and whatever pops up every week.

Posted via CB10

Bilaal !!!! how can you say this ?!!?! you have been following along on this thread for a while now.... no?

Anyway, JC has been crystal clear about his plan .... (at least to me)

It seems that people have been selective of what they want to hear and go with.

People are just picking out certain segments of the business (like handsets) where rumours are circulating (or whatever the flavour of the month is) and running with it.......(like some ANALysts we know that go on the latest rumour) ......AND... still defining the company by the handsets only mentality, and in turn (unfortunately) influencing the mass market...

.... but that shouldn't derail those that have been covering the stock/company and all of sudden changing or wondering about the direction of the company is all of sudden...

regardless, JC has set his plan, and announced it when he first was inherited.

It was a major sticking point when he came on board and announced shortly after he was hired...AND... has been reiterating it during each ER since then because ANALysts seem to have short term memories...

I'm paraphrasing here... (those reading feel free to correct or add)

His plan from the beginning was:

0. Hire qualified peeps that were capable of carrying out the following:
1. Stop the bleeding (cut ridiculous costs)
2. Stabilize the business/operations, become cash flow positive (outsource certain aspects, like Foxcon, acquisitions, etc)
3. Formulate revenue paths (make BB known as a Software company primarily, more acquisitions, etc)
4 . Growth !!! (basically make $$$ from these new paths !!!)

In terms of execution and report cards I would say we are between #2 and #3, maybe closer to #3 now, but debatable.

No where has he made Handsets a priority (unless this may one day fit into #4 when everything else is in place and they are making mad $$$)...

but people are STILL stuck thinking of BB as a phone maker... so naturally, when there is a rumour on the handset aspect, it throws them off.... well, it shouldn't...lol'

and the media and ANAlysts want #4 yesterday... when JC clearly said it would take a few years to get to that point !

[BACK-2-BLACK]

One year ago (the time I started to invest in BBRY) I would definitely choose JC

However, at this moment, I need to know more about JC's real plan before deciding. In my opinion, the roadmap of the company (especially the roadmap for devices) is quite unclear to the public currently.

Posted via CB10

so you would take 13-15 offer now?

Curious, but when you got into it a year ago and based on your DD..... do you think the company roadmap changed much since then ?

[jake simmons3]

so you would take 13-15 offer now?

I think a lot of people would at this point

Posted via CB10

[rampagingpanda]

I think a lot of people would at this point

Posted via CB10

I wouldn't. Just because our current SP is depressed doesn't make 13-15 any more attractive. Perhaps to the shorter term investors / new shareholders, but none of the longer term value positions.

Why sell out at 13-15 when this stock could be very well double of that in a year or two.

I've had too many experiences of having a value play taken lower by manipulators, then taken out for a "premium".

I'm happy JC is unwilling to sell at such low denominations.

Posted via CB10

[Corbu]

I'm happy JC is unwilling to sell at such low denominations.

[Corbu]

QNX Auto Blog: It seems like only yesterday...

Worth quoting in extenso...

By Megan Alink, Director of Marketing Communications for Automotive

What were you doing on September 14, 1999? It was likely an inauspicious day for most people, but for QNX, the date represented our official entry into the automotive market:

Don’t get me wrong — QNX was no tentative newcomer on the scene. After all, we were marking almost two decades in the embedded software business. QNX OS technology was already powering mission-critical systems for credit card processing, energy generation, healthcare, mail sorting, precision manufacturing, mining, security, and warehouse automation worldwide. (Whew!) But it was time to take that reliability and flexibility to more markets, ones with needs similar to our existing customer base. Enter automotive. (And we did.)

Today, we are pleased to be able to say that QNX software is found in more than 60 million vehicles on the road. In telematics systems like OnStar. In infotainment services like Volkswagen's RNS 850 GPS navigation system and Ford SYNC 3. In the digital instrument clusters of the state-of-the-art Audi TT and Mercedes S-Class Coup�.

60 million is a very big number. Obviously, we wouldn’t have reached this milestone without the support of our Tier 1 customers who build QNX into their systems every day, the 40+ automakers who choose these QNX-based systems, and our ecosystem of automotive partners who enrich our offering with their market-leading innovations. We want to thank all of these companies for the exciting and challenging opportunities they give us. Here’s to the next 60 million!

[bungaboy]

Only yesterday, I commented on this being a great buying opportunity for those who feel confident that they can see the current playing field clearly. There are a huge number of people out there that do supported BlackBerry and do buy shares, but who aren't playing with monopoly money and would like to still be able to buy a BlackBerry phone in two years time.

But never mind...I won't post anything but optimism in this thread from now on.

Posted via CB10

I used my "Get out of Jail Free" card and picked up some more shares today. Thanks for the tip.

[bungaboy]

Bilaal !!!! how can you say this ?!!?! you have been following along on this thread for a while now.... no?

Anyway, JC has been crystal clear about his plan .... (at least to me)

It seems that people have been selective of what they want to hear and go with.

People are just picking out certain segments of the business (like handsets) where rumours are circulating (or whatever the flavour of the month is) and running with it.......(like some ANALysts we know that go on the latest rumour) ......AND... still defining the company by the handsets only mentality, and in turn (unfortunately) influencing the mass market...

.... but that shouldn't derail those that have been covering the stock/company and all of sudden changing or wondering about the direction of the company is all of sudden...

regardless, JC has set his plan, and announced it when he first was inherited.

It was a major sticking point when he came on board and announced shortly after he was hired...AND... has been reiterating it during each ER since then because ANALysts seem to have short term memories...

I'm paraphrasing here... (those reading feel free to correct or add)

His plan from the beginning was:

0. Hire qualified peeps that were capable of carrying out the following:
1. Stop the bleeding (cut ridiculous costs)
2. Stabilize the business/operations, become cash flow positive (outsource certain aspects, like Foxcon, acquisitions, etc)
3. Formulate revenue paths (make BB known as a Software company primarily, more acquisitions, etc)
4 . Growth !!! (basically make $$$ from these new paths !!!)

In terms of execution and report cards I would say we are between #2 and #3, maybe closer to #3 now, but debatable.

No where has he made Handsets a priority (unless this may one day fit into #4 when everything else is in place and they are making mad $$$)...

but people are STILL stuck thinking of BB as a phone maker... so naturally, when there is a rumour on the handset aspect, it throws them off.... well, it shouldn't...lol'

and the media and ANAlysts want #4 yesterday... when JC clearly said it would take a few years to get to that point !

I also recall Chen stating he was going to key on hiring significant additional salesforce to get back into their customer's faces.

[bbjdog]

I used my "Get out of Jail Free" card and picked up some more shares today. Thanks for the tip.

Who let you out. ????

Lol

[Bilaal]

Bilaal !!!! how can you say this ?!!?! you have been following along on this thread for a while now.... no?

Anyway, JC has been crystal clear about his plan .... (at least to me)

It seems that people have been selective of what they want to hear and go with.

People are just picking out certain segments of the business (like handsets) where rumours are circulating (or whatever the flavour of the month is) and running with it.......(like some ANALysts we know that go on the latest rumour) ......AND... still defining the company by the handsets only mentality, and in turn (unfortunately) influencing the mass market...

.... but that shouldn't derail those that have been covering the stock/company and all of sudden changing or wondering about the direction of the company is all of sudden...

regardless, JC has set his plan, and announced it when he first was inherited.

It was a major sticking point when he came on board and announced shortly after he was hired...AND... has been reiterating it during each ER since then because ANALysts seem to have short term memories...

I'm paraphrasing here... (those reading feel free to correct or add)

His plan from the beginning was:

0. Hire qualified peeps that were capable of carrying out the following:
1. Stop the bleeding (cut ridiculous costs)
2. Stabilize the business/operations, become cash flow positive (outsource certain aspects, like Foxcon, acquisitions, etc)
3. Formulate revenue paths (make BB known as a Software company primarily, more acquisitions, etc)
4 . Growth !!! (basically make $$$ from these new paths !!!)

In terms of execution and report cards I would say we are between #2 and #3, maybe closer to #3 now, but debatable.

No where has he made Handsets a priority (unless this may one day fit into #4 when everything else is in place and they are making mad $$$)...

but people are STILL stuck thinking of BB as a phone maker... so naturally, when there is a rumour on the handset aspect, it throws them off.... well, it shouldn't...lol'

and the media and ANAlysts want #4 yesterday... when JC clearly said it would take a few years to get to that point !

BACK-2-BLACK!

I guess I just wanted answers where I probably should have known better not to have expected them (I, for one, really wanted a concrete answer from JC regarding Android. I got really caught up with the rumour) I do, however, would like to see the upcoming OS roadmap, something I think is long overdue.

Sorry for the misunderstanding, my friend! I'm certainly long BBRY and still "PING!!! squad for life"

To answer your other question in choosing JC or a $13-15 buyout, definitely JC.



Posted via CB10

[bbjdog]

B2B need a break from troll alert?

Bunga or Corbu will take the next shift. Lol

When people see their investment account go south, they start to cry. They want to blame someone like John Chen, but they don't blame themselves.

John Chen and the BlackBerry team, have been doing a great job!
Looking forward to next quarter.

Still long and continue to BUY BlackBerry shares!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[3MIKE]

Yes...I'm biting my nails and would love to have a get out of jail free card to bring down my position But like they say ; patience is a virtue

Posted via CB10

[veggielasagna]

OT: HALO easing my BBRY pain today, new lifetime high!

NFLX is easing mine LOL

[veggielasagna]

I'm happy JC is unwilling to sell at such low denominations.

Posted via CB10

Mainly because no one is showing any interest

[bbjdog]

Diversification is a good thing!

[BACK-2-BLACK]

I also recall Chen stating he was going to key on hiring significant additional salesforce to get back into their customer's faces.

Yes ! I remember that too !

There was one video where Beard was presenting and he mentioned 300+ sales reps were hired ...

[BACK-2-BLACK]

"PING!!! squad for life"

LOL.. i love that line !!!

(and remember, when in doubt, look at your sig !)

[jojowan]

so you would take 13-15 offer now?

Curious, but when you got into it a year ago and based on your DD..... do you think the company roadmap changed much since then ?

One year ago, I expected that the turnaround would come from BOTH hardware and software. In July last year, we all knew about the upcoming launches of Passport (a totally innovative phone with square screen and touch keyboard) and Classic (the answer to the Bold users). I really had big hopes on these two phones at that time and believed that they were much better than Q10 and Z10 and could generate much better sales. They were one important reason for me to invest in the stock but now I am almost certain to say that I was too optimistic (or wrong). The comeback of US carriers also gave me some hope for a while but again our sales decline just continue.

So somehow I believe one of the reasons for the recent share price weakness (fell below the usual usd9-11.5 range) is that the acknowledgement from the market that the two drivers (hardware and software) supporting the turnaround has now become one (software). The turnaround path is undoubtedly more difficult if software is the only driver.

Bear in mind that this is a stock market but not a bond market. This market is forward looking and you need to consistently give hopes to investors (especially for companies with no growth) but not keep telling people how much cash in your balance sheet. We have entered into H2 2015 today. How much do we know about our upcoming phones in the remaining of the year?

We all always complain about the short sellers and sell side bashers. But I also believe management can do more to stop that. In order to attract more higher quality institutional investors that have a long term investment horizon, management has to increase the level of transparency, especially when the team doesn't have a track record yet. Unfortunately, where we can get the information about the upcoming plans of the company now is from rumours and leaks.

Posted via CB10

[Shanerredflag]

Bilaal !!!! how can you say this ?!!?! you have been following along on this thread for a while now.... no?

Anyway, JC has been crystal clear about his plan .... (at least to me)

It seems that people have been selective of what they want to hear and go with.

People are just picking out certain segments of the business (like handsets) where rumours are circulating (or whatever the flavour of the month is) and running with it.......(like some ANALysts we know that go on the latest rumour) ......AND... still defining the company by the handsets only mentality, and in turn (unfortunately) influencing the mass market...

.... but that shouldn't derail those that have been covering the stock/company and all of sudden changing or wondering about the direction of the company is all of sudden...

regardless, JC has set his plan, and announced it when he first was inherited.

It was a major sticking point when he came on board and announced shortly after he was hired...AND... has been reiterating it during each ER since then because ANALysts seem to have short term memories...

I'm paraphrasing here... (those reading feel free to correct or add)

His plan from the beginning was:

0. Hire qualified peeps that were capable of carrying out the following:
1. Stop the bleeding (cut ridiculous costs)
2. Stabilize the business/operations, become cash flow positive (outsource certain aspects, like Foxcon, acquisitions, etc)
3. Formulate revenue paths (make BB known as a Software company primarily, more acquisitions, etc)
4 . Growth !!! (basically make $$$ from these new paths !!!)

In terms of execution and report cards I would say we are between #2 and #3, maybe closer to #3 now, but debatable.

No where has he made Handsets a priority (unless this may one day fit into #4 when everything else is in place and they are making mad $$$)...

but people are STILL stuck thinking of BB as a phone maker... so naturally, when there is a rumour on the handset aspect, it throws them off.... well, it shouldn't...lol'

and the media and ANAlysts want #4 yesterday... when JC clearly said it would take a few years to get to that point !

Well said sir...the "negative "train is well on there way here. Coincidence
Apple Music is also spamming the globe too? No matter...well said.
No dis Bilal...

Classically Posted.

[rampagingpanda]

One year ago, I expected that the turnaround would come from BOTH hardware and software. In July last year, we all knew about the upcoming launches of Passport (a totally innovative phone with square screen and touch keyboard) and Classic (the answer to the Bold users). I really had big hopes on these two phones at that time and believed that they were much better than Q10 and Z10 and could generate much better sales. They were one important reason for me to invest in the stock but now I am almost certain to say that I was too optimistic (or wrong). The comeback of US carriers also gave me some hope for a while but again our sales decline just continue.


So somehow I believe one of the reasons for the recent share price weakness (fell below the usual usd9-11.5 range) is that the acknowledgement from the market that the two drivers (hardware and software) supporting the turnaround has now become one (software). The turnaround path is undoubtedly more difficult if software is the only driver.

Bear in mind that this is a stock market but not a bond market. This market is forward looking and you need to consistently give hopes to investors (especially for companies with no growth) but not keep telling people how much cash in your balance sheet. We have entered into H2 2015 today. How much do we know about our upcoming phones in the remaining of the year?

We all always complain about the short sellers and sell side bashers. But I also believe management can do more to stop that. In order to attract more higher quality institutional investors that have a long term investment horizon, management has to increase the level of transparency, especially when the team doesn't have a track record yet. Unfortunately, where we can get the information about the upcoming plans of the company now is from rumours and leaks.

Posted via CB10

With respects to hardware:

JC has always stated that the target audience for Hardware going forward was a niche segment of users. Prosumers, Regulated Industries, Government, Military. IMO it's fairly tough to expect any growth in Hardware sales with the absence of marketing, and avoidance of wooing ordinary consumers.

Share Price:

The current shareprice doesn't acknowledge much, we've had a whole swath of negative market sentiment (unrelated at all to BlackBerry) shortly after earnings.

John Chen isn't a cheerleader and I'm glad he isn't. He isn't here to sell hopes and dreams and prop up the stock. He's here to deliver us results. When we see consistent growth, that's when the market will reward us regardless of "sell side bashers, short sellers".

[kadakn01]

With respects to hardware:

JC has always stated that the target audience for Hardware going forward was a niche segment of users. Prosumers, Regulated Industries, Government, Military. IMO it's fairly tough to expect any growth in Hardware sales with the absence of marketing, and avoidance of wooing ordinary consumers.

Share Price:

The current shareprice doesn't acknowledge much, we've had a whole swath of negative market sentiment (unrelated at all to BlackBerry) shortly after earnings.

John Chen isn't a cheerleader and I'm glad he isn't. He isn't here to sell hopes and dreams and prop up the stock. He's here to deliver us results. When we see consistent growth, that's when the market will reward us regardless of "sell side bashers, short sellers".

With respect to the cash, he has to preserve the optionality that comes with a large position. In case the business weakens unexpectedly, he is doing the right thing by preserving the cash and waiting patiently to invest, so far mainly in sub 100M deals like watchdox for 59M. He has a large swath of companies that lost confidence in BBRY (after reading that they lost 500m in a quarter a few years back) being around to serve their needs. As much as we may look daily at the share price, the reality is that the IT directors and COO's making decisions care more about the capital resources of the company, and the cash assures that they will be around for a long time. If you compare this to their competitors like MOBL and GOOD, they are are much larger and better capitalized and that is starting to resonate and as an example one of the largest private equity companies in the world Blackstone (with nearly 100B in assets)
To suggest that he would acquire a large company today is early in that he will want to see the revenues stabilize and grow and then I could see a larger acquisition. Otherwise baby steps is the most he can do, other than a large partnership leveraging a stronger brandname. That would go quite far (the recent deal with Intel is a start with QNX). The sales people are going out there and showing the strength of their company and a recent survey showed many were satisfied with the recent improvements in BES 12 platform, offering centralized management of both blackberry and IOS and android devices, and the recent wins reinforce that. We are (to use a tired and true example) in the top of the 5th inning, and this one is gong into extra innings where the real fun (share price) occurs. Patience is the type of investor that Primecap and Fairfax are and they are not worried with day to day fluctuations in the share price. Yes could he be more open in the business aspect of Blackberry? Perhaps, but I think a person on the board of Disney and Wells Fargo knows a thing or two on this. Also it seems to have filled the 2 gaps it had at both $8.29 and $8.05, so it should be interesting to see how it trades now.

[jojowan]

With respects to hardware:

JC has always stated that the target audience for Hardware going forward was a niche segment of users. Prosumers, Regulated Industries, Government, Military. IMO it's fairly tough to expect any growth in Hardware sales with the absence of marketing, and avoidance of wooing ordinary consumers.

Share Price:

The current shareprice doesn't acknowledge much, we've had a whole swath of negative market sentiment (unrelated at all to BlackBerry) shortly after earnings.

John Chen isn't a cheerleader and I'm glad he isn't. He isn't here to sell hopes and dreams and prop up the stock. He's here to deliver us results. When we see consistent growth, that's when the market will reward us regardless of "sell side bashers, short sellers".

Thanks for your reply rampagingpanda.

Regarding the hardware, yes it is right that we are a niche market player now and can't expect too much from that. But with just 1.1m devices sold in the past quarter and no roadmap on the upcoming devices, what will be the bottom? Is the previous 10m annuals sales target too high now? How can the layoffs at the hardware side and the introduction of Wistron and Compal reduce our costs and how much can be saved? Also I still can't figure out the reason of the existence of Leap, given that its specs are so similar to Z10. Most of the people here in CB didn't have any expectations on this phone when we first knew about its details. And it really ends up with "mixed feedbacks" as described by JC in the earnings call. Is there anything wrong here?

On the share price, what I want to say is that while we keep on complaining the short sellers and investment banks, there are still something that the management can improve too. Having been a buyside analyst for a few years, I believe one effective way to fend off the shortselling activities and make the share price more stable is to introduce more high quality long term investors like Fairfax and Primecap. JC doesn't need to become a cheerleader to attract these big guys. Unfortunately with this low level of transparency on its operations, the stock can only attract some speculators imho.

Yes I know we all are long term investors and believers. But don't ignore the indirect benefits brought to the company from having a stable share price. It can help to increase employee morale and improve customer perception on the company gradually. Many US companies actually did a great job on this area. Good examples are Disney and Wells Fargo. But now what I see is that the management is giving too many good opportunities for the short sellers to short the stock.



Posted via CB10