[OlympusMons]

Have a blessed, safe, and happy Easter weekend everyone!

Another week of great posts from all who contributed...big thanks to everyone for making this place one of the most informative forums in cyberspace!

[_dimi_]

My forecast for hardware: ASP has risen from 251.25 USD (in Q2) to 305.71 USD (in Q3). There just has to be room for improvement here. BlackBerry 7 devices have been phasing out for years now (or so it feels?) and the only BlackBerry 10 device selling for less than their ASP is the Leap. Something tells me that JC can bump up this conservative number whenever he feels the hardware division is ready. Or, should the PRIV get a price cut, he�ll feel more comfortable to at least keep ASP stable. And should that moment conjunct with the day they start recognizing revenue on the same amount of devices (or more) than they actually sold through to customers (which they still aren�t)� that could be icing on the cake? Before I start sounding overly optimistic, I think all this will help to eventually sell off the hardware divison. Because unless they introduce a new device soon, there�s little point imho to keep playing this numbers game where eventually (in 3-6 months time?) a relatively small number of devices could again make or break your hardware divsion. I think their hardware division will be slightly profitable in Q4: 900,000 devices at ASP 335.71 USD *= total revenue of 302 Mio USD

Posted via CB10

[Superfly_FR]

I gave up guessing and estimates for a while ... let's see (if any) the exposed numbers; only a week from now !
FWIW : I've re-enrolled in the Elite program for one more year

[Mr BBRY]

OT: ACAD

"FDA staff backs Acadia's drug to treat psychosis associated with Parkinson's disease"


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/fda-st...121315764.html

Big news for anyone still following ACAD. I've been holding this one for quite a while and buy on dips, so it's great to see a success story or two emerge from the Biotech sector during these bleak times. I look at it as a great reminder of the potential in some of these companies.

Wishing peace, health and happiness to everyone over Easter weekend. Cheers!

[world traveler and former ceo]

I gave up guessing and estimates for a while ... let's see (if any) the exposed numbers; only a week from now !
FWIW : I've re-enrolled in the Elite program for one more year

Biggest question to be answered...how many PRIVS sold... including Enterprise sales, and whether the HW division is close to profitable now .... or if so, how they plan to sustain profitability in that division.... going forward. Other is any additional IP revenues...

Time for a big time BEAT, Ceo Chen!!

Posted via CB10

[world traveler and former ceo]

https://www.deutschland.de/en/news/uncrackable-tablet

Secusmart tablet... as mentioned earlier...

Posted via CB10

[CDM76]

Biggest question to be answered...how many PRIVS sold... and whether the HW division is profitable now .... or if so, how they plan to sustain profitability in that division.... going forward.

Posted via CB10

Well to begin with, a Z30-2, Passport 2 and Priv 2 would do wonders. Companies and developers are more likely to invest in you (apps and accessories) if they know that you will have virtually same form factor for a couple years. It's hard to redesign a new case, etc every six months for whatever new device you are releasing. Apple did it, Samsung did it. It worked great for them.

Plus id love to see a newer updated Z30 and Passport

Posted via CB10

[world traveler and former ceo]

Well to begin with, a Z30-2, Passport 2 and Priv 2 would do wonders. Companies and developers are more likely to invest in you (apps and accessories) if they know that you will have virtually same form factor for a couple years. It's hard to redesign a new case, etc every six months for whatever new device you are releasing. Apple did it, Samsung did it. It worked great for them.

Plus id love to see a newer updated Z30 and Passport

Posted via CB10

If BlackBerry can show that they can make money from the Hardware Division, or at least break even, then a case can be made for future investments in (mobile) models that fit a niche... otherwise BlackBerry is better off continuing their transition to a software / security / IOT firm... and dissolve or sell the HW Division. April 1 we will know more...investors want to see BlackBerry improve revenue and profitability...

From my awesome Passport...


Posted via CB10

[CDM76]

If BlackBerry can show that they can make money from the Hardware Division, or at least break even, then a case can be made for future investments in (mobile) models that fit a niche... otherwise BlackBerry is better off continuing their transition to a software / security / IOT firm... and dissolve or sell the HW Division. April 1 we will know more...investors want to see BlackBerry improve revenue and profitability...

From my awesome Passport...


Posted via CB10

I know. But that doesn't stop me from WANTING a new Z30-2 or maybe Passport 2. LoL

Posted via CB10

[ibpluto]

I know. But that doesn't stop me from WANTING a new Z30-2 or maybe Passport 2. LoL

Posted via CB10

Would love a jacked up Leap. Great looking device, just needs more powa!!



[world traveler and former ceo]

http://blogs.blackberry.com/2016/03/...n-your-region/

Priv now available in Japan... first BlackBerry to be available officially since bb7 Era..bbry pulled out of the market since bb10... not with big carriers there (NTT docomo or Softbank)

Posted via CB10

[Corbu]

Vote!
Google Nexus 6P & 5X vs. BlackBerry Priv: Smartphone Madness 2016

It�s a match-up that figures to go down to the wire, so get your votes in now. You�ve got until 9 a.m. ET tomorrow (March 26) to help the Nexus 6P and 5X or the BlackBerry Priv book a spot in the next round.

[Corbu]

OT : MSFT
Microsoft Aims to Help Developers Write One Program for All Devices - WSJ

Tech giant to press case at Build conference for Universal Windows Platform amid push into mobile

When 5,000 software developers descend on San Francisco’s Moscone Center for Microsoft Corp.’s annual Build conference on Wednesday, they will hear a familiar promise from the company brass, backed up by the tech giant’s latest technology.

Microsoft will press its case that developers can write an application once, with the company ensuring it can work on any Windows device, people familiar with the company’s plans said. Developers can write programs for the Windows 10 operating system and have them run on PCs, tablets, smartphones, game consoles and, eventually, Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented-reality headgear.

The key is a technology dubbed Universal Windows Platform, or UWP, software included in Windows 10, which was launched in July. It allows developers to achieve a consistent look and feel for applications on any device that runs the operating system.

The online-video service Hulu, for example, offered separate apps for Windows PC and Windows Phone devices before rolling out a single UWP app last month.

UWP is Microsoft’s answer to a troubling trend for the company. The focus of app development has shifted away from personal computers, where the popularity of Microsoft’s Windows PC operating system gives the company a strong position, to more widely used mobile devices that run Apple Inc.’s iOS and Alphabet Inc.’s Android operating systems.

Microsoft’s smartphone efforts date back to 2003, when the company launched Windows Mobile, an operating system for mobile phones aimed at business users that failed to catch on. Microsoft in 2010 altered the strategy to target consumers with the renamed Windows Phone. But that new strategy hasn’t been any more successful. Windows Phone was installed on just 1.1% of all smartphones sold world-wide in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to Gartner Inc.

“The sins of the past continue to haunt them,” Forrester Research Inc. analyst J.P. Gownder said.

Microsoft scaled back its mobile-device business in July, writing down about 80% of the $9.4 billion it paid for Nokia’s handset operations in 2013 and cutting 7,800 workers, mostly in its mobile-phone operations, at the time. Since then, Microsoft has stepped up efforts to develop apps that run on the more popular iOS and Android devices.

Microsoft is betting that developers already creating programs for the 200 million PCs that run Windows 10 will take advantage of UWP to allow apps to run on other devices. That, in turn, would bolster Microsoft’s position on the variety of devices where the company currently isn’t as strong.

“This is the best option Microsoft could have come up with,” Mr. Gownder said.

Microsoft and other companies for years have promised programmers the ability to easily build cross-device programs.

Microsoft’s Windows 8, released in 2012, included software known as Windows Runtime, a UWP predecessor that helped developers create programs for smartphones and tablets, as well as for laptops and desktops.

Such technologies haven't always fulfilled their promise. Games developed for a console with a controller that has buttons, triggers and thumbsticks, for example, can be less fun to play on a PC equipped with a mouse, or a mobile phone with a touch screen. And apps developed for PCs, such as personal-finance programs, often are of little use on a smartphone or game console.

Microsoft has said it believes UWP will be more successful because Windows 10, unlike earlier Windows versions, is designed to run on a variety of Microsoft devices.

San Francisco-based PicsArt Inc., which makes a photo-editing app of the same name, tried Microsoft’s earlier cross-device technology but found it still needed to maintain multiple versions of the app separately. Using UWP, the company says it has been able to “develop one package that works across all platforms. Because of that it’s easier for us to build and maintain.”

PicsArt counts more than 65 million monthly active users on iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices. Although its Windows Phone audience is the smallest, UWP appears to be helping it find new users on laptops and desktops that run Windows 10. Since releasing the UWP version of the app in December, PicsArt has added “hundreds of thousands” of Windows users each month, said Wilson Kriegel, the company’s general manager and chief business development officer.

“If Microsoft has hundreds of millions of [Windows 10] users in the future, we view that as an opportunity,” Kriegel said.

[bungaboy]

Happy Easter!

[Corbu]

Vote, boys and girls!
Motorola Droid Turbo 2 vs BlackBerry Classic

[_dimi_]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/dell-n...3--sector.html

Posted via CB10

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

3 billion..unreal

Posted via CB10

No Dell's $43 billion in debt is what is unreal!

[masterful]

OT: Congratulations to those own ADLR

Posted via my BlackBerry PRIV

[Corbu]

BlackBerry Ltd?s hardware business may soon be gone | Financial Post

The absence of a lower-cost Android device from BlackBerry Ltd. at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona a few weeks ago, could be a sign that the company is moving closer to exiting the hardware business.

While there are a number of possible reasons for the delayed launch, TD Securities analyst Daniel Chan thinks the lack of this widely-expected product may mean a strategy change is coming.

He noted that by exiting the hardware business, BlackBerry would become a US$1.4 billion per year enterprise software company, with a forecasted operating margin of 33 per cent and US$1.4 billion in net cash.

That is a “much better overall picture than today,” Chan told clients.

After WhatsApp announced in late-February that it will stop supporting all BlackBerry devices by the end of 2016, and BlackBerry itself telling users the Facebook app will no longer function on BB10 after March 31 (they will have to use the web version), the operating system’s days could be numbered.

“Not only are there no BB10 devices in the pipeline, but also the loss of two of the most popular mobile apps across all platforms could lead to the end of life of BB10,” the analyst said.

That could produce a lot of savings for BlackBerry, since the research and development associated with its handset business is estimated to be between 30 and 50 per cent of total R&D spending.

Investors may learn more about its plans when fourth quarter results are reported on Friday, April 1.

So what can we expect from BlackBerry going forward?

One thing to look out for is the company’s first internet-of-things product, BlackBerry Radar, an integrated trailer management service, which includes a self-powered device, connectivity, and cloud-based apps. It is seen as a turnkey solution for managing containers, trailers, and inventory with improved efficiency, will be unveiled at the Mid-Atlantic Trucking Show that begins on March 31 in Kentucky.

[masterful]

Is it me or the article has changed its tone from the last few times...

Posted via my BlackBerry PRIV

[RLTurn77]

I know. But that doesn't stop me from WANTING a new Z30-2 or maybe Passport 2. LoL

Posted via CB10

This has been my entire issue with hardware under Chen. It's been all over the place from the 16:9 candy bar Leap to a 1:1 Passport.

I'd like to see from here moving forward, if HW is breakeven or even profitable, a Priv 2 Fall 2016 and when they launch their second Android hopefully Spring/Summer... Next Spring/Summer I'd like to see a version 2 of that.

I think BlackBerry really only needs two Android phones, possibly 3 (being generous), but need to build a brand rather than throwing out all this confusion with different names, confusing for the consumer what has apps, etc.

Stick with Android, improve it. Take the Priv and the second phone and build on their names. They chose Priv and if they stay in HW, make a greatly improved Priv 2 Fall 2016, and on.

Their fingerprint patent was definitely interesting. Could see that on Priv 2.

(I'm aware I'm getting ahead of myself, but if BlackBerry stays with their phone division, they HAVE to build name recognition or they won't get far. Same as iPhone, Galaxy S)

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[world traveler and former ceo]

"He noted that by exiting the hardware business, BlackBerry would become a US$1.4 billion per year enterprise software company, with a forecasted operating margin of 33 per cent and US$1.4 billion in net cash.

That is a �much better overall picture than today,� Chan told clients."

Well, as an investor (and longtime BlackBerry user), its the middle of the road that's killing them ..

Hope there is clarity April 1st .... Either BlackBerry: 1) Demonstrates that HW can be a profitable and sustainable business offering for the firm, or 2) Sell or unwind that aspect of the business division and focus on strategic areas (Software, security, services, other IOT devices, IP monetization, etc.) where they can be a very competitive, growing and profitable technology company .. IMO ...

no one understands this better than CEO Chen ...

[Corbu]

no one understands this better than CEO Chen ...

Indeed.

[Corbu]

rarsen, La Emperor, Mr BBRY and 5 others like this.

[Corbu]

FWIW:
Facebook And WhatsApp Might Be Doing BlackBerry A Favor - BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ:BBRY) | Seeking Alpha