[morganplus8]

Hi Morgan

Would you like to see them go after Sierra Wireless? It would mostly add (lots of) hardware revenue, but think of the expertise in IoT they would gain? Sierra Wireless might be better at selling the OTA solution to car manufacturers along with the chips they're already providing to them, or convince logistics companies to install Radar along with their proprietary cloud solutions,... Sierra Wireless seems like a well-managed company that handles its costs well, so it could remain a stand-alone under BlackBerry.

Today I found out that Rightware (QNX partner) actually built the infotainment system for Karma Automotive that now supports QNX over-the-air updates. Rightware also did this for the Mercedes car that they showed off at CES.

I'm sure it's a cost-thing. But if BlackBerry can perhaps buy a few partners whom are turning their code into something beautiful (visually), who have the IoT expertise and who are already turning a profit, perhaps they can sell more QNX too?

Posted via CB10

I completely agree with you, buy revenues in the same sector, spin off the portion that doesn't pertain to BlackBerry and grow the business with all of that cash. I personally like SWIR not as a stand-alone investment as much as it being taken out by the likes of BlackBerry. SWIR hold a presence in their sector but they can't finish what they started, that is to generate EPS.

BlackBerry might be heading along these lines with a new CFO now, they have the right team to turn their course toward acquisitions and asset management. I think John needs to look at the patent asset as a yield maximizing contributor to BlackBerry, either you can see a net-present-value in keeping it, i.e. you see $ 300 - $ 400 MM per year in net re-occurring revenues to the bottom line or you seek out a sale of the asset in favour of more acquisitions. At any rate, take the unnecessary refinancing and do something with it! And, .... and this is a big one, start being far more vocal about your intentions.

PS. Always use cash .................... right VRX.

Re: BBRY stock today, we backed down on a very weak general market and filled that gap, there is no further reason to be down here now. Let's get the general market back on its feet so BBRY can start a new leg up here.

Update: We filled that gap to the penny, and TA doesn't work.

[Corbu]

Morgan,

And, .... and this is a big one, start being far more vocal about your intentions.

Thanks for being around, along with the other faithful.

[bbjdog]

Just a reminder

http://app.biz.blackberry.com/e/es?s...d=2150&elqat=1

[anon(757282)]

Sure, BBRY follows the market half the time. Market down, BBRY down. Market up, BBRY down, except for rare occasions where good news is acknowledged, then turn right around and give away most of the gains.

BBRY. In it for the looooong game back to the teens...

Posted on my Still Awesome Z30

[ZayDub]

I'll say it again --BUYING OPPORTUNITIES

BBM Channel: C002165D3 Tour 9630 > Bold 9650 > Q10 > Playbook > Classic AND Passport SE!!!

[morganplus8]

I'll say it again --BUYING OPPORTUNITIES

BBM Channel: C002165D3 Tour 9630 > Bold 9650 > Q10 > Playbook > Classic AND Passport SE!!!

They are out of the quiet period now, all the changes have been made public and they can clean up the mess and get back to growing the business. I think you are right, a good time to look at this investment.

PS. Corbu - thanks for the shout out but it is CB members like you that embarrass me into making some kind of contribution!! Take care.

[ZayDub]

They are out of the quiet period now, all the changes have been made public and they can clean up the mess and get back to growing the business. I think you are right, a good time to look at this investment.

PS. Corbu - thanks for the shout out but it is CB members like you that embarrass me into making some kind of contribution!! Take care.

6s are gone for the foreseeable future. 7 will be soon to follow and then upwards an onwards. We're just flirting w/ the high 7s but with the ER being mostly positive those are my expectations. Thanks for your TA analysis Morgan - it's always a joy to read your opinions. Hope you've been doing well health-wise also.

BBM Channel: C002165D3 Tour 9630 > Bold 9650 > Q10 > Playbook > Classic AND Passport SE!!!

[Corbu]

morganplus8, kadakn01, rarsen and 4 others like this.

[Mr BBRY]

I for one like where this story is going. Chen is setting us up for a long and steady rally. It's not the exciting volatile path we all hoped or expected, but at least we have reached a point of inflection and there's only one way to go from here. UP! The downside is very limited as there is little risk left in this play. Chen has streamlined the business and is ready to monetize those patents and find new revenue streams, so I have a feeling those who hold this for the next year or two may be rewarded handsomely. Congrats to those of you that have held on this far and thanks to all the supporters in here for helping me keep my cool to not give up on this investment.

Morgan+8... thank you! I get smarter every time I read one of your posts. Keep up the good work!

SuperFly... hang in there if you can. I hope you took something off the table yesterday if you need the cash, but I'd hate to see you sell now right before things start to get good. Perhaps you can hang around with a lesser amount in play to reap some reward out of our beloved BBRY?

I'll be hanging around here quiet as usual for the foreseeable future... patiently waiting for our $20 party! Cheers, gang!

PS - Who's ready for another SPHS & HALO run up?... this guy!

[Corbu]

IoT Security, anyone?
Hackers Infect Army of Cameras, DVRs for Massive Internet Attacks - WSJ

[bbjdog]

Just a recap!

Love the BBRY support on this thread, to bad the Canadian companies (not all, but those who support BlackBerry, my deep appreciate) don't support BlackBerry.

Now the recap from my TD Alerts!

MT Newswires' Analyst Notebook: BBRY
2016-09-29 02:46:00 PM ET (MT Newswires)
* *
* *
02:46 PM EDT, 09/29/2016 (MT Newswires) -- BlackBerry (BBRY) closed down xx%, expanding its pre-market loss of 0.36% although Macquarie upgraded the shares to neutral from underperform and raised its price target to $8.50 vs $7.

BBRY tends to widen its performance between analyst-driven pre-market trade and the following regular session. BBRY has moved more in the regular session for 37 of the last 60 analyst actions MidnightTrader has tracked.

9/29/16 Pre-Market: -0.36%; 9/29/16 Regular Session: -xx% - Macquarie downgrade to neutral from underperform.

3/9/15 Pre-Market: -4.03%; 2/9/15 Regular Session: -7.6% - Goldman Sachs downgrade to sell from neutral.

11/19/14 Pre-Market: -4.46%; 11/19/14 Regular Session: -5.3% - Morgan Stanley downgrade to underweight from equalweight.

3/31/14 Pre-Market: -1.31%; 3/31/14 Regular Session: -3.9% - Credit Suisse downgrade to underperform from neutral; Evercore Partners downgraded the stock to underweight from equal weight; Needham & Co upgrade to hold from underperform.

2/18/14 Pre-Market: +4.23%; 2/18/14 Regular Session: +5.3% - FBR Capital upgrade to market perform from underperform.

10/3/13 PreMarket: unchanged; 10/3/13 Regular Session: -2.7% - Citigroup upgrade to neutral from sell.

6/13/13 Pre-Market: +2.8%; 6/13/13 Regular Session: +6.5% - Societe Generale upgrade to buy from sell.

5/15/13 Pre-Market: -2.43%; 5/15/13 Regular Session: -1.6% - Alliance Bernstein downgrade to market perform from outperform.

3/20/13 Pre-Market: +5.72%; 3/20/13 Regular Session: +6.4% - Morgan Stanley upgrade to overweight from underweight.

1/31/13 Pre-Market: -9.65%; 1/31/13 Regular Session: -5.8% - Credit Suisse downgrade to underperform from neutral and Evercore cut to underweight from equal weight.

8/15/12 Regular Session: -0.53%; 8/15/12 Pre-Market: +0.79% - Evercore initiates coverage at equal weight.

1/23/12 Pre-Market: -3.82%; 1/23/12 Regular Session: -8.4% - Deutsche Bank upgrade to hold from sell.

12/19/11 Pre-Market: -0.89%; 12/19/11 Regular Session: -4.1% - Macquarie dowgrade to neutral from outperform.

11/29/11 Pre-Market: +3.4%; 11/29/11 Regular Session: +5.4% - Bernstein upgrade to market perform from underperform.

8/26/11 Pre-Market: +1.35%; 8/26/11 Regular Session: +3.4% - Sterne Agee upgrade to Buy from Neutral

8/19/11 Pre-Market: +2.1%; 8/19/11 Regular Session: +3.6% - Jefferies upgrade to hold from underperform.

8/16/11 Pre-Market: -2.18%; 8/16/11 Regular Session: -0.6% - Societe Generale downgrade to sell from hold.

6/20/11 Pre-Market: -1.62%; 6/20/11 Regular Session: -6.7% - Bernstein downgrade to underperform from market perform.

6/7/11 Pre-Market: -0.1%; 6/7/11 Regular Session: -2.8% - Morgan Keegan downgrade to market perform from outperform.

5/18/11 Pre-Market: +2.4%; 5/18/11 Regular Session: +3.7% - Bernstein upgrade to market perform from underperform.

12/14/10 Pre-Market: +0.3%; 12/14/10 Regular Session: -0.6% - FBN Securities upgrade to outperform from sector perform.

11/30/10 Pre-Market: +1.54%; 11/30/10 Regular Session: +4.8% - Jefferies & Co upgrade to buy from hold.

11/18/10 Pre-Market: +0.72%; 11/18/10 Regular Session: +2.4% - Stifel Nicolaus dwongrade to hold from buy.

11/09/10 Pre-Market: -0.82%; 11/09/10 Regular Session: -2.6% - Kaufman downgrade to hold from buy.

10/28/10 Pre-Market: -0.92%; 10/28/10 Regular Session: +0.7% - Oppenheimer downgrade to perform from outperform.

9/20/10 Pre-Market: +0.2%; 9/20/10 Regular Session: -3.4% - Societe Generale upgrades to Buy from Sell.

9/1/10 Pre-Market: +1.8%; 9/1/10 Regular Session: +3% - JMP Securities assumes coverage with Market Perform rating.

3/31/10 Pre-Market: +0.4%; 3/31/10 Regular Session: -1.3% - Exane BNP Paribas strated at Outperform.

3/26/10 Pre-Market: +1.9%; 3/26/10 Regular Session: +2.2% - JPMorgan upgrade to Overweight from Neutral.

3/8/10 Pre-Market: +1.8%; 3/8/10 Regular Session: +5.6% - BMO Capital Markets upgrades to Outperform from Market Perform.

2/12/10 Pre-Market: +1.3%; 2/12/10 Regular Session: +3.1% - RBC Capital raises to Top Pick.

1/5/10 Pre-Market: +1.6%; 1/5/10 Regular Session: -0.2% - Morgan Stanley initiates coverage with an Overweight rating.

11/18/09 Pre-Market: -0.8%; 11/18/09 Regular Session: -2.5% - BMO Capital downgrade to Market Perform.

11/2/09 Pre-Market: -3.1%; 11/2/09 Regular Session: -5% - Citigroup downgrade to Sell from Buy.

9/1/09 Pre-Market: +1.3%; 9/1/09 Regular Session: +0.7% - Credit Suisse raises rating to Outperform from Neutral.

6/10/09 Pre-Market: +2.1%; 6/10/09 Regular Session: +1.7% - Goldman Sachs raises price target to $96 from $85 per share.

5/5/09 Pre-Market: +1.3%; 5/5/09 Regular Session: +1.5% - JPMorgan upgrade to Neutral from Underweight.

5/1/09 Pre-Market: +2% to 70.35; Regular Session: +4.3% to 72.47 - UBS upgrades to Buy.

4/24/09 Pre-Market: +2.4%; 4/24/09 Regular Session: +0.7% - Citigroup upgrades to Buy from Hold.

3/26/09 Pre-Market: +4.3%; 3/26/09 Regular Session: +4.9% - Goldman Sachs recommends buying stock ahead of company's quarterly report.

3/13/09 Pre-Market: -1.7%; 3/13/09 Regular Session: -3% - ThinkEquity initiates coverage with a Sell rating.

2/13/09 Pre-Market: -2.4%; 2/13/09 Regular Session: -3.8% - Credit Suisse downgrade to Underperform from Neutral.

1/20/09 Pre-Market: +0.7%; 1/20/09 Regular Session: -2.3% - RBC upgrade to Outperform from Sector Perform.

11/19/08 Pre-Market: -1.5% at 48.02; 11/19/08 Regular Session: -4% at 45.33 - Goldman Sachs added stock to Conviction Buy list.

9/30/08 Pre-Market: +4.6% to 64.61; 9/30/08 Regular Session: +10.6% to 68.30 - JMP Securities raised to Market Outperform from Market Perform.

9/26/08 Pre-Market: -20% to 77.00; 9/26/08 Regular Session: -27% to 70.76 - mixed analyst moves.

6/27/08 Pre-Market: decline to 120.10; 6/27/08 -2% at 120.98 - Credit Suisse initiated with Underperform.

6/23/08 Pre-Market: gain to 146.49; 6/23/08 Regular Session: -1% to 143.06 - RBC raises price target.

6/3/08 Pre-Market: -0.8%; 6/3/08 Regular Session: -2.5% at 133.51 - Goldman Sachs initiated with Buy.

1/18/08 Pre-Market: +3%; 1/18/08 Regular Session: +1.8% - Oppenheimer raised to Outperform from Perform.

12/21/07 Pre-Market: +15.5%; 12/21/07 Regular Session: +10.5% - Bear Stearns raised to Outperform from Peer Perform.

12/5/07 Pre-Market: firmer; 12/5/07 Regular Session: -0.4% - TD Newcrest raised to Buy from Hold.

12/3/07 Pre-Market: -4.2%; 12/3/07 Regular Session: -7.1% - Morgan Keegan cut to Market Perform from Outperform.

11/20/07 Pre-Market: +1.5%; 11/20/07 Regular Session: +2.6% - Thomas Weisel initiated with Outperform.

11/6/07 Pre-Market: +2.6%; 11/6/07 Regular Session: +2% - Credit Suisse raises rating to Outperform.

10/2/07 Pre-Market: -0.7%; 10/2/07 Regular Session: -2.8% - Raymond James cut to Market Perform from Outperform.

10/1/07 Pre-Market: -1.3%; 10/1/07 Regular Session: -0.5% - RBC Capital cut to Outperform from Top Pick.

9/14/07 Pre-Market: +1.1%; 9/14/07 Regular Session: +1.4% - RBC raised price target to $110 per share.

9/4/07 Pre-Market: -1.7%; 9/4/07 Regular Session: +0.1% - Bear Stearns cut to Peer Perform from Outperform.

8/13/07 Pre-Market: +3%; 8/13/07 Regular Session: +2.4% - UBS raised price target.

6/25/07 Pre-Market: firmer to 171; 6/25/07 Regular Session: -3% - UBS raised price target.

Price: 8.02, Change: -0.31, Percent Change: -3.78

[Corbu]

Must read:

As Blackberry pulls out of handset business it has some big patent strategy calls to make - Blog - Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) - Maximising IP Value for Business

Excellent, Thanks, dimi.

[davemason2k]

Wow, these analysts are a tough crowd. They've been screaming for months top get rid of hardware and now that they have they are still negative with their price targets. Oh well, more buying opportunities I guess. At least focus will be 100 percent on software now

[spiller]

Wow, these analysts are a tough crowd. They've been screaming for months top get rid of hardware and now that they have they are still negative with their price targets. Oh well, more buying opportunities I guess. At least focus will be 100 percent on software now

Faucette is a paid gimp. mobl at 7 forever until he was just obviously a dummy keeping it there now bbry still 7. Jokester. I'd like to see more device royalty deals announced this Q and some IP deals. PR keep in the news as a company that has stuff others want. Often.

[Superfly_FR]

SuperFly... hang in there if you can. I hope you took something off the table yesterday if you need the cash, but I'd hate to see you sell now right before things start to get good. Perhaps you can hang around with a lesser amount in play to reap some reward out of our beloved BBRY?

Thanks all for your contributions, you guys really rock !
Mr BBRY, I didn't sell anything yesterday and decided to go for a short ride again, playing with my standard bank accounts to give me some time (but it's costly so I will not sustain that more than a few weeks). But I killed the fire and can wait a little bit.

You guys must know that I decided to resign from my BBelite status. Other times, other expectations, from both sides, apparently.
I'm a bit on the emotional side of things right now and this is why I didn't participate the day before and after the E.R.
I believe, for us, shareholders, BlackBerry is on the proper route, they just need to ride on the highway now.

Again, thank you for keeping the house and inject so many interesting links and analysis (Corbu, Morgan I have to mention you both as the real housekeepers !). Sorry for being "out of the game" , sometimes you just can't.

Cheers all !
SF

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[kadakn01]

Amber Kanwar on "The Disrupters" with John Chen. He is on after the Twitter segment with co-founder Biz Stone
They mention BBRY a bit with Biz and in general, but JC is on around the 15 minute mark

http://www.bnn.ca/video/the-disrupto...29-2016~957302

Posted on my Priv

[Corbu]

Be well, Superfly and hang in there. In tough times, we close ranks and take care of each other.

Time heals all wounds.

[Corbu]

I posted the link earlier but thought it worthwhile posting the contents:
Hackers Infect Army of Cameras, DVRs for Massive Internet Attacks - WSJ

Hackers used an army of hijacked security cameras and video recorders to launch several massive internet attacks last week, prompting fresh concern about the vulnerability of millions of “smart” devices in homes and businesses connected to the internet.

The assaults raised eyebrows among security experts both for their size and for the machines that made them happen. The attackers used as many as one million security cameras, digital video recorders and other infected devices to generate a flood of internet traffic that knocked their targets offline, security experts said.

“We’re thinking this is the tip of the iceberg,” said Dale Drew, head of security at Level 3 Communications Inc., which runs one of the world’s largest internet backbones, giving it a window into many of the attacks that cross the net.

The proliferation of internet-connected devices from televisions to thermostats provide attackers a bigger arsenal of weapons to infiltrate. Many are intended to be plugged in and forgotten. These devices are “designed to be remote controlled over the internet,“ said Andy Ellis, chief security officer at network operator Akamai Technologies Inc. ”They’re also never going to be updated.”

Security experts have long warned that machines without their own screens are less likely to receive fixes designed to protect them. Researchers have found flaws in gadgets ranging from “smart” lightbulbs to internet-connected cars. Wi-Fi routers are a growing source of concern as many manufacturers put the onus on consumers to do the updating.

Level 3 identified cameras and video recorders made by Chinese manufacturer Dahua Technology Co. as the sources of a large share of the recent attacks, but Level 3 said other devices are being roped into a new attack network currently being assembled. Hackers often hijack the machines through computers that are already infected or poorly protected Wi-Fi routers.

A Dahua spokeswoman said Thursday the company was still reviewing Level 3’s research. She cautioned that malware could succeed in attacking older devices that have outdated software. “We strongly recommend users to upgrade the firmware of devices” and set a strong password to reduce risks, she added.

Dahua, which claims it is one of the world’s biggest makers of security cameras and digital recorders, sells directly to consumers and businesses through its website and retailers like Amazon. It also lists 71 technology partners on its U.S. website, from startups like AngelCam to better known brands like Canon.
Many of Dahua’s cameras and recorders are used by small businesses for security systems. Level 3 said H.264 DVRs made by Dahua were especially prevalent, though security researchers said other brands were affected. In some cases the devices weren’t protected with passwords or had generic passwords, Mr. Drew said.

“I suspect that a lot of people have been caught by surprise by how soon” the attacks happened, said Akamai’s Mr. Ellis. His company said it was blindsided by one of last week’s attacks, which temporarily brought down the website of one of its clients, security researcher Brian Krebs.

Mr. Ellis said a flood of traffic on Sept. 21 reached 700 gigabits per second—equivalent to 140,000 high-definition movies streaming at once—on his company’s network, the biggest the company has ever experienced. The largest attack Akamai had previously absorbed was half that volume.

“We need to address this as a clear and present threat not just to censorship but to critical infrastructure,” Mr. Krebs said.

Arbor Networks, a security firm that defended several websites affiliated with the Rio Olympics against similar attacks this summer, found cable set-top boxes and home routers used to bombard the websites with data. Those attacks reached as much as 540 gigabits per second, Arbor said.

“There are tens and tens of millions of these embedded devices out there,” said Roland Dobbins, Arbor’s principal engineer. “But they ship by default with very poor security.”

Denial-of-service attacks—so-called because they flood websites with unwanted data crashing the sites and denying access to legitimate users—are nothing new. In prior iterations, hackers have exploited weaknesses in the operating systems of personal computers hijacking them to carry out these actions. Microsoft Corp. for decades has been playing a running game of Whac-A-Mole to patch each flaw in its Window’s operating system as it arises.

“It’s going to be very difficult to convince consumers to patch their refrigerator,” said Matthew Prince, chief executive of security provider CloudFlare. “Where the security is more likely to be placed is in the network.”

[Corbu]

John Chen: It's the start of a new chapter rather than the end of an era | CrackBerry.com

[Christophe Piquemal]

OT : 5G & connected cars. (french)

https://m.nextinpact.com/news/101592...-connectee.htm

Posted via CB10

[Corbu]

BlackBerry Verified account @BlackBerry
.@TechCrunch took time to understand our new licensing model (and why you’ll still be able to get a #BlackBerry)

https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/29/blackberry-interview/
BlackBerry’s device head outlines the company’s post-hardware future

In May, Ralph Pini was given the somewhat unenviable task of heading up BlackBerry’s device team. The announcement of his promotion to that role came roughly a month after the one-time smartphone leader announced yet another troubled quarter, with a nearly 30-percent revenue drop.

Five months later, the company put the final nail in the coffin of its in-house hardware development team, officially making the transition from smartphone maker to something decidedly more abstract. The BlackBerry of the future will be one-part software company, one part idea, a stamp of approval for other companies to wear as a sign of their dedication to notions of smartphone security and productivity.

Pini, who joined BlackBerry back in 2012 with the acquisition of this company Paratek Microwave, explains that yesterday’s news had been in the works well before he was tapped to take charge of the devices team. “We have been working on it for quite some time,” Pini tells TechCrunch. “We’re moving away from an era of doing internal hardware development, which, to be honest, is a low-margin area and very difficult to compete in.”

Certainly the transition has been evident in recent devices produced by the company. Late last year, the company bit the bullet and released the Priv, its first Android device. Last month, shortly after announcing the end of its Classic line of handsets, the company released the DTEK50, essentially a rebadged take on the Alcatel Idol 4, loaded up with the Canadian company’s proprietary software. As it turns out, the device wasn’t an outlier so much as a new precedent for the company.

“It was manufactured by one of our partners,” Pini explains without naming names.
“We did the sales and distribution through the traditional channels. The next step is to grow the agreements that we have with these partners, to expand and license both our brand and our software.”

BlackBerry devices will continue to be available, but the heavy lifting of product design, marketing and distribution will be handled by yet to be announced partners, with the company serving in more of an advisory/licensing role.

In September of last year, BlackBerry CEO John Chen gave himself a one-year deadline with which to make its devices profitable, telling CNBC at the time, “If by September, I couldn’t find a way to get there, then I need to seriously consider being a software company only.” For his part, Pini calls the company’s recent devices a “reasonable success,” but adds that the profit margins are simply no longer worth it for the company that helped popularize the smartphone.

Pini places the blame on a shifting market. “You have to invest heavily on innovation and have to be able to reset the market every few years,” he says, adding, “It is very difficult today unless you control the chipsets and the innards to really achieve the differentiating level that you need. All of these devices on the market are based on the same chipset platform, give or take. And they all have minor capabilities to differentiate themselves from a hardware point of view. The consumer is really expecting the differentiating factor to come from the usability of the phone – the software.”

While the company will continue to develop its BB10 software for other markets, here in the US, that means the Android augmentations the company has offered up since the PRIV, with applications like DTEK security and the BlackBerry Hub unified inbox. The offerings will likely manifest themselves as fully branded devices along the lines of the DTEK50 and less prominent partnership, wherein the company gets second billing.

Pini admits that such partnerships are not likely to occur with Android’s biggest names, who have already developed their own in-house security and productivity offerings. The company is instead targeting what he deems “second- and third-tier” handset makers.

The first licensing deal is with BB Merah Putih, a new joint venture out of Indonesia, the largest market for BlackBerry hardware. The company has yet to reveal any such plans for North America, but while Pini won’t confirm whether the current BlackBerry lines will continue as a result of third-party partnerships, he says somewhat more cryptically, “There will be continuity in the marketplace.” The company will also continue to aggressively license its patents, of which it controls around 38,000.

As for what such a move while mean for the company’s team moving forward, Pini says that he does not anticipate any major changes to staffing, though some smaller scale ones may occur throughout the transition. “We have been continuing to improve the efficiency of the group, and as you transition, you have some functions that are more needed than others,” he explains. “I don’t detect major changes, but I do have a quarter by quarter plan, where I would like the efficiency to be somewhat higher.”

world traveler and former ceo, theRock1975, rarsen and 5 others like this.

[world traveler and former ceo]

https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/29/blackberry-interview/
BlackBerry�s device head outlines the company�s post-hardware future

Will be interesting to see who these HW partners may be, since he seemed to rule out the big ones (apple, Samsung, HTC...)... yet India, China, SE Asia, Indonesia are huge markets for local upstarts there!... better to get a small slice of an ever growing pie.. than none at all!!...creating new revenue streams via partnerships, and monetising the IP BlackBerry has ... is more critical than ever.

... as a long-time BlackBerry investor (300k shares), now is no time to panic .. patience is needed, and let CEO Chen complete the transition ... when Prem sells, i'll sell lol

... may have to buy a couple of Passport SE's to hold me over, in the meanwhile lol

From my awesome Passport

Posted via CB10

Last edited by world traveler and former ceo; 09-30-16 at 09:39 AM.

sidhuk, rarsen, Mr BBRY and 6 others like this.

[bbjdog]

Don't know if this article has been posted, but we might have one more phone to look forward too.


http://www.financialpost.com/m/wp/fp...signed-handset

[sati01]

The software business is not looking good.

Revenue is stagnant:
Q4 FY16 $ 131
Q1 FY17 $ 142
Q2 FY17 $ 138

Operative income is declining:
Q1 FY17 $37
Q2 FY17 $29

[Corbu]

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/black...source=twitter

William (Bill) Archer
VP Sales, Enterprise Solutions

BlackBerry Handsets : Outsourced not Outcasts


Recently BlackBerry CEO John Chen told BNN�s Amber Kanwar in an interview on September 26th that the company plans to license its signature QWERTY keyboard to manufacturers, even after outsourcing its internal hardware development.

After all � BlackBerry owns the patent for this iconic handset feature and there are a lot of us - including me - who prefer a physical keyboard for accuracy, speed and functionality. (The Passport and PRIV keyboards both also act as touch-pads for cursor control and large page manipulation, as many of you know already).

A screen shot from the interview shows space on the Wall of Fame of BlackBerry handsets for some yet-to-be released handsets according to John Chen. You can clearly see the reference to another year or more of new devices to come. On top of this article here in LinkedIn I've shared a picture of that wall showing the very impressive amount of innovation over the many years that BlackBerry led the way in the development of this marketplace.

You can also watch the full 3 minute interview on BNN, here:
BlackBerry CEO says QWERTY keyboard will live on, even after outsourcing move - Video - BNN

Originally the handsets used to be made in Canada and then gradually manufacturing moved to other places including Mexico and then sub-contracted to Foxconn. The Z3 was the first phone was designed and built by Foxconn back in the spring of 2014. A further shift became apparent as very recent devices were built by another 3rd party supplier, Alcatel, with very slightly different specifications to the Alcatel branded product. This last change to BlackBerry�s production strategy simply completes the transition to "software only" as they retain the patents but outsource the hardware manufacturing entirely. This is not a pivot, really, but a simple evolution of what makes sense. Apple has been outsourcing their builds for years and nobody worries. No one vendor can do it all alone, any longer. Google has some hardware reference designs of their own but the vast majority of Android devices are made by others.

When a device is labelled "Smart" it is not the Hardware which makes it so. After all � aside from the design elements which make a device unique in appearance or some special functionality � it always has boiled down to Software which makes the device truly capable. Most manufacturers source their separate components such as memory, CPU, radios and screens from the same well established major suppliers. It is the software which really makes the devices productive and useful. Those of us that prefer BlackBerry10 OS have our reasons as well as those that might prefer BlackBerry�s value-added Android for separate overlapping reasons. I have never personally understood why some people judge a device on how it looks , rather than how productive it makes you or how helpful it is. Having said that - a couple of my own BlackBerry devices over the years have enjoyed accolades from the design community and have won the prestigious Red Dot awards more than once. I can't imagine travelling around the globe without my BlackBerry Passport tucked in my jacket pocket alongside my paper passport.

BlackBerry has retained all their intellectual property around their legendary security and "smart" capabilities, as well as their patents around their famous keyboard technology and they can now focus on innovation that makes them unique in this marketplace.

Even market leaders such as Apple and Samsung have seen their own positions eroded as innovation slows so that iterative generations of devices are gaining collective shrugs instead of the mass enthusiasm of previous products. All smartphones now contain the same basic functionality including two cameras, some amount of memory, and a slab-format touch screen. Even Apple has slowly begrudgingly added NFC capability while at the same time having the "courage" to remove the headphone jack although few devices sport the added storage that a BlackBerry user has enjoyed for years. (My Passport and my PRIV both have about 256gb of memory - my entire office in my jacket pocket).

As an aside: BlackBerry already has a very strong partnership with Samsung for Enterprise Security with Knox and they co-produce a secure tablet together � recently supplied to the German government. Personally, I would not be that surprised to see Samsung work with BlackBerry on value-added software for Samsung�s own impressive line of smart technology in the future and both companies have a huge investment in the Internet of Things. Both companies also share a common interest in connected car, as well. Samsung makes great hardware. BlackBerry makes great software and even if they�re not getting married they can at least go on the occasional date together.

We have hardly seen the last of what makes BlackBerry famous. Stay tuned.