[Superfly_FR]

Sunday night fun...

I see what you did here

[Superfly_FR]

[Reminder]
So many valid points you can't ignore this :

[W Hoa]

Samsung and BlackBerry see future in securely managed connected home | afr.com

...with so many manageable devices beginning to appear in households, many of them from Samsung, that Samsung/BlackBerry partnership could extend to offering enterprise-grade management platforms to ordinary consumers, Mr Wade says.

"It makes good sense to have a central point that allows you to manage all of the aspects of your connected life. But that's something we're still trying to understand," he says.

Indeed, BlackBerry's Ball says the whole notion of "enterprise-grade" management and security for devices will start to go away, as ordinary consumers start demanding the same manageability of household devices as enterprises have now for their devices.

"If I'm a household user, I'm probably going to have similar needs, wants and desires as an enterprise user."

[Superfly_FR]

^^^ I dreamed the day this cascading experience happened ...

[helopilot06]

I'm still dreaming of a $20 dollar party, then a $50 party, and then a $100 party. That would be a nice cascading experience IMHO lol

Posted via crackberry10 on my new Z30!

[Superfly_FR]

Now, I'm able to expect the $xxx party

[_dimi_]

M&A outlook: Reducing debt positions key for both Glencore and Tesco | TipTV.co.uk

Betaville's Ben Harrington lets us know that Microsoft will decide in the upcoming week(s) whether they will pursue BlackBerry or not...

[rarsen]

Hi dimi check your PM.

[Superfly_FR]

Betaville's Ben Harrington lets us know that Microsoft will decide in the upcoming week(s) whether they will pursue BlackBerry or not...

Too late. But partnership welcomed anytime !!! (won't add more for displays safety sake, but ...)

[W Hoa]

Good chasing MobileIron with patent litigation:

... two patent trials are scheduled in December 2015, in the United Kingdom, and June 2016, in Germany. In those cases, Good accuses MobileIron of infringing two of Good Technology’s patents, namely, the EP2,375,336 patent, which accuses MobileIron’s EMM Platform for its use of the selective deletion of corporate data, and the EP2,048,586 patent, which targets MobileIron’s products that enable multiple users to share a single device. MobileIron has not asserted any patents against Good in these jurisdictions, which are important markets. Good is scheduled to go back to trial with MobileIron in the U.S. in summer 2016.

https://www1.good.com/legal/patent-litigation.html

[Corbu]

BlackBerry Acquires Good, Helps Stabilize Battered EMM Market

On Friday, BlackBerry Limited announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Good Technology for $425 million in cash. Good�s technology will integrate with BlackBerry�s enterprise portfolio and trusted global network. It�s amazing the difference a week makes. As I was structuring my thoughts on Good Technology for an upcoming Lopez Research market research report, I noted that Good Technology was running out of options and would need to pursue a sale. The rapid plummet of MobileIron�s stock meant (hovering at a market valuation of $310 million after a $900 m IPO) it was nearly impossible for Good to IPO. Also, it was unlikely that Good�s investors wanted to plow more money into a beleaguered EMM market. Hence, the best option for Good was a sale before it ran out of cash.

Good Technology Statistics Worth Noting

- 2,000 Good secured applications (The company�s S1 filing reported 1,600 plus but the number has grown.)
- 6,300 customers
- 16,000 Good Dynamics developers
- 94 percent renewal rate
- 50 percent of Fortune 100 use Good
- 50 percent of sales are through the channel

BlackBerry: An Unexpected Acquirer

The industry has speculated so much on potential acquirers for BlackBerry that it hadn�t occurred to many that BlackBerry would be willing to make a large acquisition. BlackBerry had a war chest of roughly 3 billion in cash that it can use to acquire technologies. Within the past two years, it has acquired Secusmart, Movirtu and WatchDox ($70 m). While I expected at least two more acquisitions, the size of this acquisition was larger than expected.

I had speculated that Good would end up as a technology sale to Samsung to bolster its services business. Of course, there are many reasons why this type of sale would�ve been difficult. Other likely candidates included HP or a Managed Service Provider that could use Good to expand on a mobility service business.

What�s In It For BlackBerry?

While it�s obvious what Good gets out of the deal, many may be wondering what BlackBerry achieves given the apparent product overlap. The acquisition:

Reinforces BlackBerry�s position in its target customer base. Many security conscious and highly regulated industries such as financial firms, defense, and healthcare firms use either BlackBerry or Good. Despite widespread cynicism and complaints of a poor user experience, Good has retained a bulk of its clients as stated in its 94 percent renewal rate. BlackBerry is a trusted mobility partner of all G7 governments, 16 of the G20 governments, 10 out of 10 of the largest global banks and law firms, and the top five largest managed healthcare, investment services, and oil and gas companies.

Bolsters BlackBerry�s security business overall. As I�ve noted in other Forbes articles, BlackBerry is a security company. The acquisition of Good is aligned with BlackBerry�s strategy Mobile device and application management are critical components of that strategy. While it was catching up in Enterprise Mobile Management (EMM) features, BlackBerry was still viewed as an Mobile Device Management (MDM) provider. BlackBerry was particularly interested in Good�s SDK for containerized MAM. It also was pleased with the amount of application vendors that have used Good�s SDK to secure apps. The Good platform has more than 2,000 independent software vendor and custom applications built today.

Better iOS and Android support. According to various reports, roughly two-thirds of Good Technology users are on Apple AAPL -0.92% iOS. Good is also the only company certified as Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level 4 Augmented (EAL4+) for mobile collaboration on both iOS and Android. These two items combined benefit BlackBerry on both mobile OS and overall security support.

Partnerships should benefit. This deal should reinforce the BlackBerry-Samsung partnership. While the company still offers phones, it continues to focus on a software and services play, making it a better partner for hardware manufacturers.

Mobile Market Challenges Remain

The mobile market is tough. Acquiring a company isn�t enough to ensure long term success. While the extent of any service changes can�t be discussed until the transaction closes in November. BlackBerry has said it plans to run both services until it can build a unified platform. Therefore, Good customers have little to worry about in the short term. However, building a unified platform on the other hand will be difficult at best. Each of these solutions has merit, but the company simply can�t mash them together. Once the acquisition closes, the company will have to make touch decisions about what stays and what goes. Good provides a small revenue stream that requires major cost cutting.

BlackBerry expects Good to contribute $160 million in GAAP revenue the first year, including the impact of an expected write-down of certain deferred revenue of Good. One challenge is that Good reported US$ 211 million sales with a US$95.4 million in net loss. The company needs to rationalize expenses to make this revenue beneficial. Even with these challenges, a tie up between BlackBerry and Good is probably the best that Good and its customers could�ve wished for. I don�t think VMware or Microsoft are quaking in their boots over this acquisition, but I bet a few Good customers will be resting easy. For BlackBerry, it allows the company to solidify its position in the EMM market while focusing its energies on designing new services for the next 20 to 50 billion connected devices in the Internet of Things.

[Corbu]

Will BlackBerry's MDM aspirations quash device business?

[Corbu]

Keyboards on mobiles are making a comeback

[bbjdog]

Keyboards on mobiles are making a comeback

I see that wanabe's are still at it!

Hope everyone had a good labour day.

[Corbu]

BlackBerry (BBRY) Will Acquire Good Technology | CNA Finance

What We Can Expect To See Moving Forward

While BlackBerry has been struggling for quite some time now, I’ve kept my faith in the company. For me, this year hasn’t necessarily been a year of declines; it’s been a year of reorganization. The reality is that, throughout the year, the company has made several moves to re-position itself as a leader in the smartphone market place. This means less focus on the handsets it offers and more focus on offering a secure environment and top-notch software. While the vision may be a bit blurry to some at the moment, I have a feeling that 2016 is going to be a great year for BlackBerry.

Nothing major but can't say I am in disagreement...

[BigBadWulf]

Keyboards on mobiles are making a comeback

Maybe BlackBerry could manage some success in that hardware business.

[Superfly_FR]

BlackBerry Acquires Good, Helps Stabilize Battered EMM Market

Interesting.
So - say - the Corean manufacturer is now limited in its acquisitions and blocked by governments for geopolitical reasons.
By extending their relationship with Canadian BlackBerry they now have a lever to use such technologies on a "pay as you use it" basis and the possible exclusivity.
Interesting.

P.S: let's see how the SP performs today, our "friends" had a long weekend to read the press and the blogs and AFAIK, those all applauded ...
FTR, last Friday after hours

Edit : ha !!!

[Superfly_FR]

Warning : anemic volume

[Corbu]

NEWS:

Dan Dodge resigns from QNX

[Corbu]

BlackBerry CEO John Chen To Talk Phones, Cars at October?s Code/Mobile | Re/code

[_dimi_]

https://www.google.nl/url?sa=t&rct=j...SeNcHG1klLga0A

Anyone with a subscription?

[bbjdog]

Good morning! Here it is Dimi


Long-time Lazaridis ally Dan Dodge resigns from BlackBerry�s QNX (RTGAM)

SEAN SILCOFF

OTTAWA � The last senior BlackBerry Ltd. executive with close ties to company co-founder Mike Lazaridis is leaving the company.

Dan Dodge, president of BlackBerry�s Ottawa-based QNX Software Systems business and a member of CEO John Chen�s executive team, told The Globe and Mail he submitted his resignation in August, and will retire at the end of the year.

�My decision to leave was my own,� he said. �I threw my own party, invited everybody from QNX that I�ve known over the last 35 years and we had a grand time.� Mr. Dodge will be succeeded by John Wall, his vice-president of engineering.

Mr. Lazaridis had high hopes for QNX when BlackBerry, then known as Research In Motion, bought the company in 2010. Like Mr. Lazaridis, Mr. Dodge had taken a project developed during his days as a University of Waterloo student and built a business around it. He and QNX co-founder Gordon Bell made their names as pioneers in embedded systems technology. QNX�s software, known as a �micro-kernel,� was the building block at the base of some of the world�s most important technology, including air traffic control systems, nuclear power plants and the routers that manage traffic over the Internet. Machines that ran on the QNX technology were so dependable they would run non-stop without a software malfunction for years. A customer once told Fortune Magazine the only way to stop the software from working was to shoot a bullet through the machine.

Mr. Dodge sold his company to stereo maker Harman International Industries in 2004 and stayed on, but five years later he was pining for a new owner to take his company off the hands of its cash-strapped parent. At the time, BlackBerry was struggling to redefine itself in the handset business after Apple�s introduction of the iPhone created a popular touchscreen alternative to BlackBerry�s keyboard-based smartphone. After RIM�s unsuccessful attempts to launch its own touchscreen products based on its legacy operating system, Mr. Lazaridis was convinced that Mr. Dodge and QNX could develop a transformational new software platform that would put the company back into the lead of the smartphone race. RIM paid $200-million for the company in 2010.

But QNX�s first project, building RIM�s PlayBook tablet, proved a flop, after the device was late to market, lacked native BlackBerry e-mail and featured only a fraction of the apps of Apple�s iPad. Meanwhile, the project to build the new BlackBerry 10 smartphone operating system was beset by delays, and when new devices based on the QNX-designed system came out in early 2013 � a year after Mr. Lazaridis and co-CEO Jim Balsillie relinquished their management positions � the company�s market share had declined markedly and many users found the new system alienating. The new devices sold poorly and the company�s revenue continued to fall steeply.

More recently, Mr. Chen has been championing QNX software, which is used to power on-board digital entertainment systems in cars, as the basis of its shift into the burgeoning �Internet of things� space. But while Mr. Dodge had grown close to Mr. Lazaridis � who like him lived and breathed science � and become a trusted adviser and sounding board on technology decisions, sources say Mr. Dodge found himself more distanced from Mr. Chen. Since August 2014, Mr. Dodge had reported to a new president, Sandeep Chennakeshu, appointed to oversee QNX and a range of other small operations as part of the company�s technology solutions business unit.

�I miss Mike Lazaridis greatly,� Mr. Dodge said. �I really respected that man. He may have missed a few things or may not have turned when he should have at the appropriate point here or there, but the man was brilliant, the man was fair, he brought tremendous leadership to what was effectively a technical company, and he also made decisions based on his heart at times, which I think is tremendously motivating for the staff. So I miss him a great deal. It�s definitely different� now, he said.

In a statement, the company said �we are grateful for Dan Dodge�s contributions to BlackBerry and his work building a startup to an undisputed leader in embedded software. �We�re appreciative of Dan�s 35 years of dedication to QNX and wish him all the best in his retirement.�

[Corbu]

September 8, 2015

BlackBerry Ltd: Good….Not Great

James E Faucette – Morgan Stanley

Announcing the acquisition of Good Technology on Friday, BBRY continues to try to add software revenue via M&A. Despite cost reduction opportunities, we think fundamental challenges are unchanged.

Similarities between Good and BBRY suggest cost reduction opportunities but competitive positioning remains largely the same. BBRY expects the Good transaction to be accretive to earnings and cash flow within the first year. Given some customer overlap and the remaining NOC infrastructures, we would expect meaningful cost synergies to be realized over time with potential revenue synergies targeted for year 2 and beyond. Both Good Technology and BlackBerry offer a containerized MDM that tends to appeal most to highly-regulated enterprises such as government, financials and legal as they contemplate EMM options for multi-device environments. While both companies are relatively strong in those verticals, we continue to believe that much of the mobile security market has moved beyond the "lockit- down" approach. Enterprises are increasingly valuing productivity features in addition to device security. Further, our checks to date have found Microsoft and VMware (Airwatch) have become increasingly aggressive in the space as they offer solutions bundled with a broader enterprise software portfolio. We think the BlackBerry-Good combination does little to mitigate these competitive challenges, and given that we believe Good has had very little revenue growth momentum of late, we believe that there may have been better acquisition opportunities.

Acquisition strategy continues as BlackBerry climbs towards software revenue target. On Friday morning, BlackBerry announced its acquisition of Good Technology for $425mm (~2.7x NTM rev.), and expects to close the transaction by the end of FQ3. Management believes Good will add $160mm in GAAP revenue within the first year, suggesting a roughly $40mm contribution towards management's FY16 software revenue target of $500mm. Given our current FY16 software revenue estimate is $327mm, barring notable uptick in BES 12 adoption, the company will have to continue acquiring assets to reach management's target. We note that BlackBerry currently trades at ~1x FY '16 revenue, implying that this acquisition will be dilutive on a cash basis, though the company expects the transaction to be earnings and cash flow accretive.

Remain EW on cash balance and flexibility. Our $7 PT is 4-5x our forecast for a $400mm/yr software and messaging business and $3.50-$3.75/share in cash. In our view, the flexibility of the balance sheet outweighs poor business fundamentals for the time being. However, we would note the Good Technology transaction takes away ~$0.80/share in cash, removing some of that flexibility while acquiring revenue which we believe has limited growth potential. Although the acquisition still leaves the company well short of revenue targets, the opportunity to cut opex within BlackBerry and Good keeps us EW on the stock.

Hey... What did you expect?

[Superfly_FR]

NEWS:

Dan Dodge resigns from QNX

Dan Dodge steps down as CEO of BlackBerry's QNX Software Systems | CrackBerry.com

[Corbu]

OT:
Samsung to Cut 10% of Head Office Staff, Economic Daily Says - Bloomberg Business