[FR33MAN]

It will be painful to see this type of headline for the next little while!

Posted via my BlackBerry PRIV

And then HW is underperforming...

Posted via CB10

[Superfly_FR]

[info]I "declare" this Tuesday "out of Apple anything" : let's get back on topic ! [/info]

I have a question for ya'll : can anyone figure the % charges related to sales and marketing in last ER (and if we can see a raise from previous ones ?). My limited skills both on accounting and English made me get nowhere fast digging in the reports. Found some ARP's but I'm not sure this is valid, since I believe it's only "what has not been paid yet".

[Klipspringers Shoes]

My understanding is that Chen has always been a software guy. But at this level (CEO) that doesn't matter. My thoughts are that Chen wants hardware but realizes that it's not vital to the company's future.

You can not pick one part or division of the company and say he is not competent. As CEO he is evaluated on the success / failure of the company as a whole.



Posted via CB10

Not going to go into a long debate, but I was evaluating him on the whole.

Posted via CB10

[Superfly_FR]

Big news for Europe.
As you might know, we're a bit nitpicking about data, storage and the regulation rules that are applied to them regarding physical location.
Seems BlackBerry fully understood that so that they now offer EU storage. AtHoc seems to be #1 on the list but I won't be surprised there's more to come soon

BLACKBERRY’S ATHOC CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS PLATFORM SUPPORTS INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS

Expanded cloud offering empowers European organizations to improve public safety with secure crisis communications in a fully-compliant, EU-hosted deployment

Waterloo, Canada – April 5, 2016 – BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB), a global leader in secure mobile communications, today announced the availability of BlackBerry’s AtHoc hosted networked crisis communications platform from BlackBerry’s secure data centers in Europe. The new offering will serve European and global customers that plan to support public safety leveraging the BlackBerry AtHoc cloud, which enables people and organizations to exchange critical information in real time during business continuity and life safety operations. In light of recent events, security communication is of paramount importance to both public safety agencies and commercial organizations concerned with the safety of their personnel and community.

With the option to be hosted in Europe, BlackBerry’s AtHoc delivers an offering that is not only in full compliance with regional security but also supports data privacy concerns, including the recent European Court of Justice determination in October, 2015 that a U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework is no longer valid for the transfer of personally identifiable information (PII) from Europe to the U.S.

“AtHoc’s expanded, secure European hosting capabilities offers high reliability and security with a cloud deployment,” said Guy Miasnik, President of BlackBerry’s AtHoc Division. “The solution is in full compliance with European data protection requirements to ensure the world’s most demanding organizations can deliver security, life safety, and business continuity to their community and personnel.”

AtHoc Networked Crisis communications platform enables immediate and effective communication within and across organizations both remotely and on-site in the case of an incident. AtHoc’s mass notification solution delivers targeted alerts in real time, using multiple channels to potentially thousands of enterprise staff or personnel. AtHoc customers securely connect with a diverse set of endpoints, including mobile devices running iOS and Android, PC and Mac desktops, digital displays, radios, IP phones, sirens, fire panels and speakers to facilitate collaboration and enhance situational awareness.

Featuring world-class security and high availability, the European data centers will host data for public and private sector companies in Europe. Customer data will be processed within Europe, meeting the requirements for how European organizations handle PII and data privacy. A primary disaster recovery data center in Europe will supplement the new offering.

"We’re committed to working closely with our growing number of European customers to provide them with the secure crisis communications technology they need to communicate and collaborate rapidly in times of crisis,” said Florian Bienvenu, Senior Vice President, EMEA Enterprise Sales at BlackBerry.

With the availability of the European data center, BlackBerry’s AtHoc offers hosting solutions for organizations around the world. In addition to Europe, the BlackBerry AtHoc cloud is available from the company’s secure U.S. data centers, and has been available from BlackBerry’s secure data center in Canada since February, 2016.

About BlackBerry
BlackBerry is securing a connected world, delivering innovative solutions across the entire mobile ecosystem and beyond. We secure the world’s most sensitive data across all end points – from cars to smartphones – making the mobile-first enterprise vision a reality. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry operates offices in North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Company trades under the ticker symbols “BB” on the Toronto Stock Exchange and “BBRY” on the NASDAQ. For more information, visit www.BlackBerry.com.

About AtHoc
AtHoc, a division of BlackBerry Limited, is the pioneer and recognized leader in networked crisis communication, protecting millions of people and thousands of organizations around the world. AtHoc provides a seamless and reliable exchange of critical information among organizations, their people and devices. A trusted partner to the world’s most demanding customers, AtHoc is the leading provider to the U.S. Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, and safeguards numerous other government agencies and leading commercial enterprises. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, the company operates around the globe. For more information about AtHoc, please visit www.athoc.com.

[Klipspringers Shoes]

A genuine message from a contact, not prompted. Just shows what a silly move it was to spend months and months and months preventing most users from seeing some added value in BBM. At least they finally had the good sense to change their minds and stop charging.

Posted via CB10

Edit: was trying to post a screenshot of a friend getting excited about the 'privacy and control' features. Not allowing it for some reason.

[CDM76]

Weird.
My understanding is near the opposite.
As in : Chen believes that HW is vital to sustain software and will sugar-coat as much as he can until the break even is close enough to make the loss finally look as a neglecting shortfall only.
Well, I agree with that, provided software revenues keep ramping up with a high recurring percentage.



Posted via CB10

I guess we will have to agree to disagree then.
Although I can't wait for the next two devices to come out (hoping to pick up the slab when it comes out ) I also realize that even without phones, the company will still survive. It won't be what we know now, but it would surely survive to see another day.

Posted via CB10

[Superfly_FR]

Funny thing is - to me - that so many want BlackBerry to spend hundreds $million yearly to do "marketing" and can't figure how the "end to end" concept is the key marketing point BlackBerry has to offer to enterprises. My last post is another action nailing it; shall I be advertising it, could be the likes of "Your data, your rules, regulated". No in-between, no what-if; treat your mobile data as you treat your "ordinary" data.

Edit : I realize this is not clear. What I mean is that the "budget" is equal for now, should shrink soon and finally only represent a vague portion of an effective "marketing" campaign cost.

[spiller]

I guess we will have to agree to disagree then.
Although I can't wait for the next two devices to come out (hoping to pick up the slab when it comes out ) I also realize that even without phones, the company will still survive. It won't be what we know now, but it would surely survive to see another day.

Posted via CB10

Rumour is the Note 6 may ship as early as mid July with Android N.

BlackBerry will have the team work on N compatibility as soon as M is released in early M. The Note 6 will likely be the most expensive device on the market. Would like to see an early September BlackBerry release. Seems the slab may not have fingerprint scanner and the next querty might.

Posted via CB10

[jbfair728]

They must invest in marketing not just to advertise their phones, but to revive the BlackBerry brand. Passport and PRIV are killer devices, but they still went belly up partially because nobody outside of CrackBerry cares for BlackBerry, or is even aware of the fact that the company still exists; "oh, BlackBerry still makes phones?".

Going Android was a indeed good move. But if Chen wants to continue making phones, he must invest in a powerful marketing campaign to fix the diminished brand. Otherwise, the HW sales will remain anemic, hence it will continue to contaminate the overall BlackBerry brand.

Posted via CB10

[Klipspringers Shoes]

Funny thing is - to me - that so many want BlackBerry to spend hundreds of $ yearly to do "marketing" and can't figure how the "end to end" concept is the key marketing point BlackBerry has to offer to enterprises. My last post is another action nailing it; shall I be advertising it, could be the likes of "Your data, your rules, regulated". No in-between, no what-if; treat your mobile data as you treat your "ordinary" data.

Edit : I realize this is not clear. What I mean is that the "budget" is equal for now, should shrink soon and finally only represent a vague portion of an effective "marketing" campaign cost.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but I wonder if we should be asking the following question: What do enterprise care about? It seems as though they really don't care all that much about BlackBerry end-to-end hardware anymore. They seem fairly happy to have their iPhones linked to Good, which isn't the end of the world, I guess. I mean, enterprise have seemed to be pretty untroubled by the idea of BlackBerry not existing at all.

Posted via CB10

[bbjdog]

I am tired of know it all posts! What does harm to the brand is bad mouth people who think they know it all! Agendas that fit personal needs and garbage article that's not worth a Canadian cent! I found this tread and liked the contributions made by certain people, but lately it has been ruined by ???????!

For those great posters who I fallow, THANK YOU and have a beer on me!

Posted via my BlackBerry Passport

[DREXcb]

For those interested in the "competition".
http://www.informationweek.com/mobile/iphone-se-materials-cost-about-$160-ihs-teardown-finds/a/d-id/1324968?_mc=NL_IWK_EDT_IWK_daily_20160405&cid=NL_I WK_EDT_IWK_daily_20160405&elqTrackId=c8d6017ff9b24 ac3a7e78f5af541929d&elq=3c13da764d8a49069f043c3f5a 376401&elqaid=68888&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=20435

I am curious what AAPL runs for SG&A as a % of revenue.

Posted via CB10

[Corbu]

I told you last week that a friend of mine would be meeting with some BBRY executives and I asked you if you had any questions for him,

Since both himself and I keep our promises and deal with hard facts, I am here to report.

Here is a summary of your questions and the corresponding answers:

Q1. I'm curious as to how their presence at MATS 2016 Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS) was received. How do they feel they are positioned against the incumbents? How have the beta test trials been going? What's the margin? Is it integrated into any, or planned to, of the large dispatch software offerings?

A1. It won�t be released until June-July time frame. It is differentiated and the platform that collects all of data and pushes out the alerts is not just associated with this type of solution, it is the same as for healthcare data etc., where all that is needed is just a different application (SW related). This will create a new vertical besides automotive. It will eventually integrate in BES.
Margins are good but not as high as pure SW, because it has the HW component as well.

Q2. Has WorkLife/Movirtu had any traction or interest by any carrier in the world? I thought the Economic Times of India said some Indian carriers were testing it out in 2015. Any progress updates or is the Movirtu acquisition being written off?

A2. It has not been written off. They are still waiting for it to take off and it is taking too much time. One of the reasons is the fact that the carriers are too protective and no one wants to be 1st. When one finally comes in, it will take off.

Q3. Chen has to find new buyers of the hardware IMHO and not a big number. He just needs to bring in some new buyers. They don't seem to have found the formula just yet. Chen seems to feel really good about fixing that. He came out with the Leap for enterprise but that seems to have failed. He's still talking about a phone he can market, in similar fashion and price directly the enterprise. He must be hearing from the big players that�s what they want from him. What is he hearing from them that he thinks this continues to be an avenue worth pursuing? Would love for him to elaborate a bit more about that.

A3. Priv has been on the market for 5 months. Since rollouts are still happening, we need to wait before making announcements regarding any production interruption; furthermore, it is still out so we need to give it a chance. John wants to wait until he has tried everything before making the decision here and one must still take care of the enterprise adoption cycle.

With respect to selling the HW, they are first looking closely at their supply chain and then would consider a sale, however they said it is not like they have a large plant to sell someone, (since Foxconn and Wistron own the actual plant, and not Blackberry) What they have is some equipment, some IP and some people with knowhow. A JV or shutting it down are both possible outcomes, but it is still too early to tell.

Q4. Buying back bonds vs. equity

A4. It makes more sense to buy the debt. Available at a price of 104 on the convertible debt in November 2016. They say the debt is expensive with respect to the interest payments of nearly 80M a year and they do not need 1.2B outstanding as a more SW centric company requires much less than a mainly HW company that has contractual obligations (think of the Z10 debacle and what that almost did to BBRY). Basically they are derisking the company and no longer need the debt that was required a few years back.

Essentially they will probably knock out 50% or more of the debt this year; a future acquisition could affect this.

Q5. Sprint? Why the delay with Verizon and more on HW and Priv breakdown?

A5. Sprint requires unique band so another SKU. They are talking but there would have to be considerable order for BBRY to invest as Sprint has push to talk along with other features so it requires a different board. They could not just use the Verizon devices they have and do a SW update.

Verizon has a long technical acceptance cycle; nothing on BBRY side caused it. Also it was the 1st Android but Verizon always take a while, even with the 1st BB10 device. Verizon tends to be the last carrier in general. BBRY thought it would be mid-Feb but it turned out later than they would have liked.

Breakdown of Priv vs. other devices was about 40% of total device sales, below expectations. What�s wrong with Priv is it is too expensive as compared to S7 and that segment of the mkt is not growing from a consumer perspective. They are planning a device with an ASP of $4xx (vs. the 7xx of the Priv) and selling mainly to enterprise rather than in every Verizon store where most don't care about security.

With respect to the supply side, ultimately the way is to have another company, like Samsung or some other company take care of fabrication. You then buy what you need with no inventory risk or engineering cost. You simply load the software you need before you sell it.

Q6. Simple one: When signing for services (BES, Good, Watchdox, etc.) what's the proportion of customers requiring/asking for a fleet of BlackBerry devices? Other way to ask: is there a bundled offer licenses+devices ? [underneath: is that where JC took his stubborn approach against HW division?]

A6. The proportion of customers is less than 40% that require a device in combination and it is mainly in the highly regulated/ government industries, and financial institutions that make up the group requiring devices

Q7. What are they doing to increase share price?

A7. Continue to execute on growth strategy of SW and Services and monetize IP, asset tracking as well as other things; adding other assets that make sense (acquisition)

Canadian government would not have an issue with a Korean company like Samsung buying them as they already buy their products, but not a Chinese company.

There you go!

[DeRedder]

BlackBerry probably has a lot of unsold Passport, Z10, Q10, Classic and Leap stock.
We have already seen Passports (both silver and OG) run Android in the wild.

disclaimer: I love my Passport since October 2014 and to this day there has not been a phone which is better for me.

But if they repurpose the BB10 devices and update them to Android, they WILL be more attractive to new customers. It will increase BB marketshare, and mindshare around consumers. I will never update to Android, but if they offer this option for Passport, Z30, Classic owners, then people can continue using their BLACKBERRY devices longer. And it will increase the chance of other people seeing BB devices in the wild.

Could they use this method?

[bungaboy]

Thank you Corbu!!!

[bbjdog]

Thank you Corbu!!!

I second that! But I'm disappointed he didn't ask my question. I wanted to join the beer party. LOL

Posted via my BlackBerry Passport

[Corbu]

Thank you Corbu!!!

Chose promise, chose due!

Thanks, man. And thanks to my friend, on behalf of all the serious contributors to this thread.

[Corbu]

I second that! But I'm disappointed he didn't ask my question. I wanted to join the beer party. LOL

Xenia will be waiting for you at the beer party, bbjdog. You lucky...

[bbjdog]

Xenia will be waiting for you at the beer party, bbjdog. You lucky...

I don't think my Coco will like such a thing. LOL

Back on topic, SORRY!

[early2bed]

Q3. Chen has to find new buyers of the hardware IMHO and not a big number. He just needs to bring in some new buyers. They don't seem to have found the formula just yet. Chen seems to feel really good about fixing that. He came out with the Leap for enterprise but that seems to have failed. He's still talking about a phone he can market, in similar fashion and price directly the enterprise. He must be hearing from the big players that�s what they want from him. What is he hearing from them that he thinks this continues to be an avenue worth pursuing? Would love for him to elaborate a bit more about that.

A3. Priv has been on the market for 5 months. Since rollouts are still happening, we need to wait before making announcements regarding any production interruption; furthermore, it is still out so we need to give it a chance. John wants to wait until he has tried everything before making the decision here and one must still take care of the enterprise adoption cycle.

With respect to selling the HW, they are first looking closely at their supply chain and then would consider a sale, however they said it is not like they have a large plant to sell someone, (since Foxconn and Wistron own the actual plant, and not Blackberry) What they have is some equipment, some IP and some people with knowhow. A JV or shutting it down are both possible outcomes, but it is still too early to tell

Is it me or does this answer contain a lot of unprompted talk about getting out of hardware. There is nothing in the question regarding getting out of hardware. but the response talks about shutdown and goes into details about how it might happen.

[TimJohnSmith]

Attachment 396196

Hamburg and Rome "leaked".. Will they see the light of day? Call me a dreamer but I believe Chen/BlackBerry still have hope to revive the handset business here.One, last(for real) try!

Posted via CB10

They need to advertise them well and start with the series numbers. New names won't grow awareness.

Torch 9810 -> Z10 -> Passport on Rogers in Canada.

[Klipspringers Shoes]

Is it me or does this answer contain a lot of unprompted talk about getting out of hardware. There is nothing in the question regarding getting out of hardware. but the response talks about shutdown and goes into details about how it might happen.

Yeah, it doesn't look good. Also, Chen still seems to think it's a good idea to go and ask potential customers what they want in a phone. Sounds clever on the surface, but how many people would go to a restaurant where the chef comes out with no menu and says 'So, lovely people, what would you like me to try and cook for you? Any ideas for dishes, ingredients?'.

Posted via CB10

[cjcampbell]

Yeah, it doesn't look good. Also, Chen still seems to think it's a good idea to go and ask potential customers what they want in a phone. Sounds clever on the surface, but how many people would go to a restaurant where the chef comes out with no menu and says 'So, lovely people, what would you like me to try and cook for you? Any ideas for dishes, ingredients?'.

Posted via CB10

Bad analogy as when developing a menu, a chef looks at the clientele that frequents the restaurant and develops around that. Your loyal customers are what keeps the lights on and creating a menu that alienates them may, or may not, bring in a new flock. That's quite the gamble in a low margin business.

Posted via CB10

[Superfly_FR]

A6. The proportion of customers is less than 40% that require a device in combination and it is mainly in the highly regulated/ government industries, and financial institutions that make up the group requiring devices

Not surprising and I may understand (won't you ?) why Chen doesn't want to break down barriers on these segments ... If I remind correctly highly regulated/gov is somewhere in the 35%+ of total incomes (pls correct me if wrong), with a high recurring revenues proportion.

P.S: Corbu : you're the man !!! Thanks a zillion times

[robot_ca]

Thanks Corbu! Very interesting.

Sent from my awesome Z30