[Corbu]

LOL!

Keep it locked here. I'll restore it periodically...

[abwan11]

Prem and the cabal (primecap) intentions was to recover their losses. This was the first objective. Chen has delivered that to them. Common shareholders were not included. It's clear now. There's two businesses running congruent to each other. One is a dead flat line and the other has returned to large stake holders through debt, dilution, real estate etc. Good job chen.

Posted via CB10

[drobbie]

Prem and the cabal (primecap) intentions was to recover their losses. This was the first objective. Chen has delivered that to them. Common shareholders were not included. It's clear now. There's two businesses running congruent to each other. One is a dead flat line and the other has returned to large stake holders through debt, dilution, real estate etc. Good job chen.

Posted via CB10

I think Chen should be congratulated. Blackberry as an entity is still around and trajectory is upwardly.

[abwan11]

I would hold off padding Chen on the back personally. Unless your an insider. If you look closely at his actions, especially his first few orders of business and not follow the prevailing commentary that says, "Chen saved blackberry", it's clear that he was hired with two objectives. The most pressing of these two was to recover losses for "stake holders", as he calls them, not common share holders. You've heard him use this term on multiple occasions, no mystery there.

The unused, unnecessary debt is the most obvious clue. 1.2 billion of debt that has returned to Prem 300 million + and counting. The money was never used. Why? If it was an emergency line of credit (pay when you draw from it) then it would be understood, but that's not what it was. It will end with a 10% dilution in the form of share options. All that debt with no purpose has returned the whole of Prems investment in blackberry. Do you believe that this was an oversight or a misstep? This was clearly intentional. Share holders paid.

The real estate blackberry owned was valued at 1.3 billion and represented 30% of blackberrys market cap in 2013, it was sold off, at a discount in a booming real estate market for 800 million.
That's a 40% discount or 500 million dollars gone to who? And why? Only to lease it back. If held today it would be valued at 2 billion + or nearly half of blackberrys market cap. Another misstep, or poor judgment?

Forget about blackberry for a moment and try and make sense of just these two items in any other context. Who sells their debt free house, takes on a debt to stuff in the mattress with no purpose, make payments on that debt and then leases back their house. You have to be an idiot OR under handed to justify such a move. No one in their right mind would do this unless your John Chen and your share holders will pay the bill.

I can go on and on. If you follow the money,as they say, and where it went it's clear as day. If you rather choose to believe what you are told, then that's up to you.

Posted via CB10

[abwan11]

Analyst and short sellers don't miss these glaring points, media and fanatics do. The mystery of blackberrys poor performance and poor share price are reflective of decision made by the BOD and John Chen at the expense of the company as a whole. The market has witnessed Chens intent and priced accordingly. And yet Chen is still seen as a hero or some extremely wise guru. I would say all he has created for share holders is a "Chen ese torture chamber" . By breach of trust and privileged greed.

Posted via CB10

[Bacon Munchers]

Attachment 443306

... starting to get the impression that you are an Asian polygamist....

How do you find any time to blog!?

[rarsen]

Weekend reading for those wanting to dig-in into 5G, but also those who will limit themselves to quickly get an overview that 5G is coming helping permit new technologies:

5G: A transformation in progress
https://www.zdnet.com/article/5g-a-t...24037827013043

Why should 5G mean anything to anyone?
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-s...3rM0Ku7oXlMEE1

[EchoTango]

Lots of star gazing with respect to Chen and Fairfax and couldn't resist putting my two-cents in.

We will never really know (unless Chen writes a memoir) what Chen's initial hiring objectives where and how they were modified as events unfolded. I suspect Fairfield wanted to get in on a Canadian iconic company in trouble to play the odds of selling it for parts or fixing it up to be sold as a going concern realizing either a quick hit or a long term large return. It's clear the latter was the path ultimately taken, largely by necessity, as I doubt they had a reasonable offer on the table that would pass government approval. In any case, it's clear Fairfax wanted a ring-side seat and made the necessary financial transactions to make it so which I'm sure had side -deals to protect them from all contingencies. What is true is the company is still alive and is making waves, albeit on a much smaller scale.

My worst nightmare during this period was to have summarily received a check for $8 per share from an initial investment of around $60 and then seeing BB disappear into a private company black hole, sliced up and sold off without any public oversight.

For that, I'm not sure who to thank ?

[Bacon Munchers]

Forget about blackberry for a moment and try and make sense of just these two items in any other context...

...I can go on and on. If you follow the money,as they say, and where it went it's clear as day. If you rather choose to believe what you are told, then that's up to you.

So thanks for your input here. Good to have all points of view present, but just wondering if you have ever considered sending BlackBerry Investor Relations your concerns?
I am presuming that you are an enthusiast and/or investor?

[rampagingpanda]

Weekend reading for those wanting to dig-in into 5G, but also those who will limit themselves to quickly get an overview that 5G is coming helping permit new technologies:

5G: A transformation in progress
https://www.zdnet.com/article/5g-a-t...24037827013043

Why should 5G mean anything to anyone?
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-s...3rM0Ku7oXlMEE1

Great informative articles, thanks Rarsen!

[Chuck Finley69]

Analyst and short sellers don't miss these glaring points, media and fanatics do. The mystery of blackberrys poor performance and poor share price are reflective of decision made by the BOD and John Chen at the expense of the company as a whole. The market has witnessed Chens intent and priced accordingly. And yet Chen is still seen as a hero or some extremely wise guru. I would say all he has created for share holders is a "Chen ese torture chamber" . By breach of trust and privileged greed.

Posted via CB10

But these points ignore that assets were sold to raise cash. BB was in no position to sit on assets waiting to appreciate. BB needed to borrow money from somewhere and Fairfax/Prem made the best offer. There was still risk involved at time of loan. Hindsight is always 20/20 as the saying goes.

[elfabio80]

But these points ignore that assets were sold to raise cash. BB was in no position to sit on assets waiting to appreciate. BB needed to borrow money from somewhere and Fairfax/Prem made the best offer. There was still risk involved at time of loan. Hindsight is always 20/20 as the saying goes.

Sure, but this does not mean sell with a big reduction. I am not familiar with the numbers of the post criticizing Chen, but sell with a 40%discount is criminal....

[Corbu]

BlackBerry Is Looking to Its Past to Find a New Future

March 11, 2019 6:00 a.m. ET

While Samsung Electronics and Huawei made bold bids to redefine the smartphone’s future with foldable phones at Mobile World Congress last month, a pioneer in the field has been reinventing itself in new and old ways.

BlackBerry (ticker: BB)—remember them?—had a quiet presence at the same show. Its licensing partner, Chinese consumer-electronics company TCL, introduced a red version of the BlackBerry Key2 device, part of a multipronged turnaround strategy by BlackBerry. Several days later, the company announced it completed a $1.4 billion acquisition of artificial intelligence specialist Cylance, and then sued Twitter (TWTR) to protect intellectual property.

In moving into the future, BlackBerry—which turns 35 years old today—is embracing its past. The high-tech guts that made its hand-held device so popular before iPhone—mobile messaging technology and vaunted security software coveted by government agencies and regulated industries—are the centerpiece of its plan to tap into rising markets such as internet-connected devices and connected cars.

BlackBerry’s QNX software, for example, is embedded in more than 120 million cars. The company’s Spark Communications Platform lets developers stitch together chat, voice, video, and data via smart devices and mobile and web apps, forming a network it calls the Enterprise of Things.

“It’s very important that we don’t detach entirely from the phone; it is part of our heritage and brand,” CEO John Chen told Barron’s in an interview Wednesday in San Francisco.

“We are taking all the know-how of the company and applying it to emerging markets,” said Chen, who turned around Sybase before selling it to SAP (SAP) for $5.8 billion in 2010. “We want to connect things rather than build things.”

(For the record, Chen is not a fan of foldable phones, calling them expensive vanity products.)

By moving from hardware—where it was responsible for manufacturing the devices it designed—to software and services, BlackBerry has been able to improve operating margins and profits. It is using its increased cash flow to invest in next-generation technology.

A case in point is Cylance, the machine learning/artificial intelligence security firm it acquired for $1.4 billion. The deal, BlackBerry’s biggest in its 35-year history, closed Feb. 25.

BlackBerry is “a born-again startup,” Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates, told Barron’s in a phone interview. “Their approach is, let’s take what’s left of the DNA, and let’s go after industries that need heightened security such as health care, Wall Street, and government agencies.”

Of late, investors like what Chen has been selling. BlackBerry stock is up 72% this year after cratering in 2018.

One selling point is BlackBerry’s foothold in the auto industry, which is expected to grow as connected cars get smarter, with more sensors beyond the dashboard, Steven Fox, managing director at Cross Research, told Barron’s in a phone interview. He maintains a Buy rating on the stock with a price target of $12, 27% above BlackBerry’s closing price of $9.48 on Friday.

The Enterprise of Things play is more complicated, however. BlackBerry’s challenge, analyst Gold says, is establishing long-term sales in an emerging market while competing against the likes of Cisco Systems (CSCO), Symantec (SYMC), Dell Technologies (DELL), and, to a lesser extent, cloud providers like Amazon.com (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), and Alphabet’s (GOOG) Google.

Chen believes BlackBerry’s technology makes it an ideal fit for lightweight devices while Cisco and Symantec are geared more toward large networked systems. “I don’t mind going after a market with a lot of big players,” he says. “That means the market is appealing. Better that than to go after a market with no big players.”

At the same time, BlackBerry is protecting its heritage. Late last month, it filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Twitter, claiming it illegally used BlackBerry’s mobile messaging technology in the Twitter app and Twitter Ads platform. BlackBerry filed a similar lawsuit against Facebook in March 2018, accusing it of co-opting the same technology on Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Twitter declined to comment on the lawsuit.

“It is important we be viewed as an innovator and not a troll,” Chen said, while declining to comment on the lawsuit. “Ninety-nine percent of the time, we usually resolve issues out of court. In some cases, the gap is too big.”

Chen is coy about BlackBerry’s future, given his history of selling his last major turnaround project, Sybase, to SAP nearly a decade ago. “If we continue to grow the company and take advantage of business opportunities in emerging markets, things will take care of themselves,” Chen said.

[Chuck Finley69]

Sure, but this does not mean sell with a big reduction. I am not familiar with the numbers of the post criticizing Chen, but sell with a 40%discount is criminal....

At time, buyers know that BB needs cash and they received going market values at time. Valuations were fair at time of sale.

[Seadog83]

Prem and the cabal (primecap) intentions was to recover their losses. This was the first objective. Chen has delivered that to them. Common shareholders were not included. It's clear now. There's two businesses running congruent to each other. One is a dead flat line and the other has returned to large stake holders through debt, dilution, real estate etc. Good job chen.

Posted via CB10

You should hook up with Muhlan, I bet the two of you would get on great. Anyways, I'm not sure that's 100% correct. I'm hardly Chen's greatest cheerleader, and am disappointed in the share price as anyone, but independent of that, am happy with the changes he's made and the place where the company is, moreso going forward, and am confident we will eventually be rewarded.

https://s1.q4cdn.com/579586326/files...ers-Letter.pdf

Fairfax said in their latest report that they have 95 million fully diluted shares at a price of 12.30. Some simple arithmetic says then that he's in for $1.17B. Subtract out the 60m shares and $600m for the debentures, and his price for the rest is averaged at $16.25, more or less in line with previous rumoured numbers of ~$17/share. It doesn't say whether or not that cost basis has been reduced with the interest he's gotten.

Even with a $300m windfall from interest, he's hardly in a place where he's been printing money, and at best probably around break even now.

Secondly, the great missing piece of your little conspiracy is the glaring "why?". You have Chen, who by all appearances lives simply, and doesn't need the money at all. It seems he's doing this for his reputation, and to save an iconic brand. Why would he commit a decade of his life to this cause purely to help out Prem, destroying BB in the process, and nothing else? That would literally destroy his reputation, for money he doesn't need. Seems like a pretty horrible exchange.

As ET said, My biggest fear too was a buyout at $9, as I firmly believed it was worth a lot more, and didn't want the opportunity to capitalize on it robbed from beneath my feet.

As far as the loan itself goes, Chen has alluded to the fact that although they had a couple billion on the books when he took over, the situation was a bit more dire than reported since they had billions of commitments to suppliers. Hindsight is 20/20, and with a few slightly different choices or outcomes, it could have been a very different situation where they needed every last penny. The fact that he renegotiated the debentures from 1.2b at 6% to 600m at a little over half that demonstrates that he's at least a bit aware of how much cash they needed and trying to structure accordingly.

In 2013 pretty much everyone had written off BB and even with cash in the bank, it was merely a matter of time before calling the priest. Add an extra $1.2b, and that at least shores up a bit of confidence to the market. Cash in the bank speaks a lot louder than an unsecured line of credit which will only be drawn on as needed, but *if* it had been needed, that meant they'd burned through $2b+ and things had already gone from bad to worse and may have been on an irrecoverable slide. I feel they were perilously close to a negative, self reinforcing loop.

[smithm565]

Prem's 2018 Annual Shareholder Letter:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/prem-...201009654.html

"Since we acquired our position about six years ago, much has changed at BlackBerry, all skillfully orchestrated by the only constant, John Chen, it's CEO."

"BlackBerry is on the move! On a fully converted basis we own 95 million shares at a net cost of $12.30 per share."

Posted via CB10

[abwan11]

So thanks for your input here. Good to have all points of view present, but just wondering if you have ever considered sending BlackBerry Investor Relations your concerns?
I am presuming that you are an enthusiast and/or investor?

I'm glad you have an open mind.

ir@bb, I've had more resolve troubleshooting with my cable provider. It's a top down problem, hard to convey a macro problem to a micro mind.


Posted via CB10

[abwan11]

You should hook up with Muhlan, I bet the two of you would get on great. Anyways, I'm not sure that's 100% correct. I'm hardly Chen's greatest cheerleader, and am disappointed in the share price as anyone, but independent of that, am happy with the changes he's made and the place where the company is, moreso going forward, and am confident we will eventually be rewarded.

https://s1.q4cdn.com/579586326/files...ers-Letter.pdf

Fairfax said in their latest report that they have 95 million fully diluted shares at a price of 12.30. Some simple arithmetic says then that he's in for $1.17B. Subtract out the 60m shares and $600m for the debentures, and his price for the rest is averaged at $16.25, more or less in line with previous rumoured numbers of ~$17/share. It doesn't say whether or not that cost basis has been reduced with the interest he's gotten.

Even with a $300m windfall from interest, he's hardly in a place where he's been printing money, and at best probably around break even now.

Secondly, the great missing piece of your little conspiracy is the glaring "why?". You have Chen, who by all appearances lives simply, and doesn't need the money at all. It seems he's doing this for his reputation, and to save an iconic brand. Why would he commit a decade of his life to this cause purely to help out Prem, destroying BB in the process, and nothing else? That would literally destroy his reputation, for money he doesn't need. Seems like a pretty horrible exchange.

As ET said, My biggest fear too was a buyout at $9, as I firmly believed it was worth a lot more, and didn't want the opportunity to capitalize on it robbed from beneath my feet.

As far as the loan itself goes, Chen has alluded to the fact that although they had a couple billion on the books when he took over, the situation was a bit more dire than reported since they had billions of commitments to suppliers. Hindsight is 20/20, and with a few slightly different choices or outcomes, it could have been a very different situation where they needed every last penny. The fact that he renegotiated the debentures from 1.2b at 6% to 600m at a little over half that demonstrates that he's at least a bit aware of how much cash they needed and trying to structure accordingly.

In 2013 pretty much everyone had written off BB and even with cash in the bank, it was merely a matter of time before calling the priest. Add an extra $1.2b, and that at least shores up a bit of confidence to the market. Cash in the bank speaks a lot louder than an unsecured line of credit which will only be drawn on as needed, but *if* it had been needed, that meant they'd burned through $2b+ and things had already gone from bad to worse and may have been on an irrecoverable slide. I feel they were perilously close to a negative, self reinforcing loop.

20/20 hindsight doesn't apply to what I've said because I've been on this train since the initial offer was made by Larry the liquidator aka prem watsa.

Prems original position, when the buyout offer was made and up to late 2018 was 46 million shares value at 500+ million, he's doubled down,(late 2018) and knowing what a straight shooter he is, I wouldn't be surprised if he bought the Dec low, no conflict of interest there. If you do simple math using 300+ in debt payments against 500 million purchase not to mention the 50 million executable shares and excluding salary and insider perks like real estate sell offs, it adds up quick and you start to see the light.

Prem never went through with his offer, but he managed to get control of the company regardless. Those wicked wheels of his starting spinning and he quickly realized that a debt holder trumps a share holder. So off went the offer and on with the debt. And he did a few jump in, jump out and jump in, to his board seat during this, again no conflict.

Debt does not instill confidence as far as the market is concerned, ...its not fuel but nitros oxide to the fire. Especially if you have 800 million in cash at the time you draw this debt. It tells the market "their going to burn and die". Your shouldering another burden. And investors begin to realize that they will be left in the cold should they close up shop. They won't touch it. In all instances it's a negative impact with dire consequences to all involved... except... Larry the liquidator.

After renegotiating the debt Chen publicly said that they could have paid it off and that they went back a and forth a few times till they settled on half. He realizes the weight of it, and if he was forthright in his position that debt should have disappeared. Again to satisfy the hostage taker all have to suffer. To this day that money has not been touched.

As far as Chen aka Robin hood as you put it. .. Does Trump need the money?
It's power, money and power, the two most corrupting elements that exist.

Conveying something that has been widely overlooked is never accepted and can be easily dismissed in a crowd mentality. Your comment about muhlan and little conspiracy are examples of a dismissive attitude. You may not like it, but your living with it, hard to admit.

Posted via CB10

[bbjdog]

To the great contributors of this thread, THANKS for the great reading material lately!!! I haven't been educated in a long time!!!

Cheers mates and keep the faith!!

[abwan11]

Sure, but this does not mean sell with a big reduction. I am not familiar with the numbers of the post criticizing Chen, but sell with a 40%discount is criminal....

Buffet has said given a choice between gold or real estate he would choose real estate every time.

Returns consistently long term. Excellent hedge against inflation, Every business owner wants to own their building if possible, with the exception of Chen and every scavenger wants it too.

Posted via CB10

[abwan11]

But these points ignore that assets were sold to raise cash. BB was in no position to sit on assets waiting to appreciate. BB needed to borrow money from somewhere and Fairfax/Prem made the best offer. There was still risk involved at time of loan. Hindsight is always 20/20 as the saying goes.

The purchase of Cylance has equal value today as the real estate did in 2013. It was a large asset, It wasn't insignificant or overlooked by Prem and company that's for sure. At the time of the sale they had 1.2 debt banked, along with cash on hand. Legacy revenue, although declining, was measured in billions of dollars at the time and continued into 2016. There was no need to sell it.
If the debt was needed to carry the real estate or any other portion of the business then all was justified. It would be considered "good debt" it's working for you. But that's not what they did. The debt sat untouched and the real estate disappeared at a discount. Makes me wonder if that's why their keeping cylance as a stand alone company, Another quick fire sale should prem decide he needs some Vegas money.

Does anyone want to discuss where the 300 million Chen redistributed from the 1.1 Qcom money went?

Posted via CB10

[rarsen]

OT for those with general interest in technology. Personally I still have doubts about possible use of scotch tape print, forceful placement of the thumb or during sleep (remember story of a child activating parent cellphone access) to activate :

This debit card comes with a built-in fingerprint sensor for contactless payments
https://bgr.com/2019/03/11/natwest-d...t-sensor-tech/

[smithm565]

Just announced : BlackBerry DC subsidiary

https://www.thestar.com/business/201...overnment.html

Also NATO selects BlackBerry to secure it's calls

Posted via CB10

[W Hoa]

NATO Selects BlackBerry's Encrypted Voice Technology to Secure its Calls

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...300810812.html

[Corbu]

"Based in Waterloo, Ont., BlackBerry is scheduled to release its 2018-19 financial results on March 29."