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- As a shareholder I'm really unhappy about the xBBM launch. Just sayingKid Vibe and jordandrews90 like this.09-22-13 06:51 PMLike 2
- 09-22-13 06:56 PMLike 3
- I'm sorry this happened to you but buying shares a week before ER that is known to contain extra negative news is a nono.09-22-13 07:02 PMLike 0
- the Canadian Press has declared BB dead, awaiting the funeral. so, no it is not Canadian Nationalism, does that even exist? It is the reality that the stock is under priced., plain and simple. Now you may not get that, that's OK, most people don't get that. Again that is the reason BB is underpriced.09-22-13 07:23 PMLike 0
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Posted via CB1009-22-13 07:25 PMLike 0 -
and layoffs, as horrible as it is for the employees tend to get well received by the stock market.
oh yeah BBM, failed because it is too popular, so how is that a bad thing? granted could have been a better weekend for BBM, but it is coming anyways.09-22-13 07:44 PMLike 5 - I'm guessing he was trying to ride the xBBM launch (potential exciting download #s) ... Quick in and out. Little did he suspect the warning announcement late Friday coupled with delayed BBM.09-22-13 08:10 PMLike 0
- TH or someone really needs to discuss what the numbers mean... I want to fly to the meeting and have my nerf gun ready... Expect a dip tomorrow peeps, gonna suck, but what you going to do!
I'm just kidding, expect BB to sell their hardware division to Samsung, fix BBM, and turn profits.09-22-13 08:10 PMLike 6 - This comes again from the WSJ.
http://forums.crackberry.com/news-ru...candal-852560/ADGrant likes this.09-22-13 08:12 PMLike 1 -
- "BlackBerry said it will announce eight new business contracts on Tuesday."
BlackBerry Makes Risky Bet on Services - WSJ.com
BlackBerry Makes Risky Bet on Services
BlackBerry to Focus on Selling Smartphone Services to Businesses
By
RYAN KNUTSON, CLINT BOULTON And WILL CONNORS
BlackBerry Ltd. BB.T -16.08% begins life this week as a company focused on selling smartphone services to businesses, a risky, last-ditch bet that it can hang on to rapidly eroding ground in the market it pioneered.
The plan appears to be to position the company as the go-to provider of systems to manage smartphone use for employers like the government and banks, where the need to ensure security is at a premium.
That approach plays to the company's strengths in markets where it has suffered the least damage, but BlackBerry's position in the business market has eroded greatly amid gains by devices like Apple Inc.'s AAPL -1.04% iPhone. It also faces tough competition from startups and established rivals like Microsoft Corp. MSFT -2.52%
Executives responsible for buying smartphones and the software to manage them say BlackBerry faces long odds.
Tracey Rothenberger, chief operating officer of Ricoh Americas Corp., Malvern, Pa., said that fewer than 500 of the 9,000 smartphones he manages for the printer and copier maker are BlackBerrys. The remainder are made by Apple or powered by Google Inc.'s Android software. "For me, it's kind of 'game over' for them," he said.
Mr. Rothenberger added that BlackBerry still makes great software for securing mobile devices and that companies needing an ultra-secure environment will likely continue to value it. But he said there is nothing compelling that would lead him to use BlackBerry devices or software. "I think there is a limit to how long they can hold out as the premier secure solution in mobility," he said.
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BlackBerry Stuck With $1 Billion in Phones
On Friday, BlackBerry said it would pull out of the consumer market and focus instead on its core business and on professional customers. They "helped build BlackBerry into the leading brand today for enterprise security, manageability and reliability," Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said.
The step makes a virtue of necessity. The company's share of the consumer-smartphone market in North America has fallen below 3%, according to technology research firm IDC, and it is taking a charge of nearly $1 billion, largely to reflect the diminished value of unsold new-model Z10 phones.
The collapse of its devices business has already left the company as largely a seller of services. BlackBerry said its revenue in the quarter ended Aug. 31 would be about $1.6 billion, down from $2.9 billion a year earlier, and about half of that would come from services.
An update to the firm's BlackBerry Enterprise Service enables it to support Apple's iOS operating system and Google's Android software, and it now has more than 25,000 commercial and test servers installed globally, up from 19,000 in July. BlackBerry said it will announce eight new business contracts on Tuesday.
The company remains the leader in securely managing mobile devices for companies, said spokeswoman Kara Yi. "BlackBerry is much more than a device company," she added.
BlackBerry expects to report a hefty operating loss of nearly $1 billion in its fiscal second quarter due to an inventory buildup of unsold smartphones, and will lay off 4,500 employees. Steven Russolillo reports on the News Hub. Photo: AP.
BlackBerry still has a market share of about 38% among businesses with more than 10,000 employees, as well as more than a 33% share in government and financial institutions, according to Steve Brasen, managing research director at Enterprise Management Associates Inc., which analyzes the information technology industry.
But overall, its position with business customers has collapsed. Three years ago, BlackBerry could point to a market share of nearly 70% among business customers in North America, according to IDC. This year, that figure has dropped to around 5%, IDC says. Globally, BlackBerry's business-market share has slipped to around 8% from 31% in 2010, according to IDC.
[image]
The cause is the same as in the consumer market: BlackBerry has been pushed into the corners by dominant smartphone makers Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE -1.59% Once consumers grew addicted to using iPhones in their personal lives, they began insisting on being able to bring them to work.
BlackBerry itself recognized the threat and developed a touch-screen smartphone to combat it. Abandoning the consumer market could mean falling further off the pace in terms of devices people want to carry.
Douglas Menefee, chief information officer of Schumacher Group, began allowing employees to use their own devices at work two years ago. About 100 employees at the Lafayette, La., health-care staffing firm use BlackBerrys, down from 450 a few years ago. He also supports 635 iPhones, 250 iPads and 75 smartphones that run on Google's Android software.
"It's been a no brainer for us to embrace a model which provides our workforce their own personal preference for their mobile devices," Mr. Menefee said.
BlackBerry's position eroded in part because it was too focused on its business customers and ignored changes in the consumer market, Mr. Brasen said. When it did try to adapt with phones like the touch screen Z10, which hit the market this spring, it was "too little too late," he said. And pulling out of the consumer market now won't help as it tries to win back business customers.
Larry Conrad, chief information officer at the University of California at Berkeley, which lets employees use their own devices, said he doesn't see workers returning to BlackBerrys. He says he hasn't seen any of the school's several hundred administrators using them.
As BlackBerry shifts strategy, its board is looking at options, including an outright sale. A number of big private-equity firms have considered a bid over the past 18 months, but some of the industry's bigger players have taken a pass.
BlackBerry is a tough bet as a conventional private-equity play because the business appears to be in a decline that shows no sign of reversing, according to bankers and private-equity executives. Private-equity firms often target companies that can be turned around through some sort of restructuring or management change and sold at a higher price. BlackBerry has a bigger structural problem. Its devices have fallen out of favor, and its prize feature—a secure network—has become increasingly easy for rivals to reproduce.
Senior executives at private-equity firms that have looked at BlackBerry say its device management business could have been really valuable a few years ago but has grown less attractive as competition has grown.
Private-equity firm Silver Lake, a big player in the tech industry, is among the those that have decided after casual conversations not to bid for BlackBerry, people familiar with the matter said. That isn't to say the company won't fetch a buyer for all or part of itself. Private-equity firms that specialize in distressed companies or technology companies could still see value there.
But BlackBerry would have to build mobile technologies—hardware or software—that would "reinvent mobile computing if they plan to regain the trust of the enterprise customer," said Mr. Menefee of the Schumacher Group. "I just don't see it happening."
—Dana Mattioli and Sharon Terlep contributed to this article.
Write to Ryan Knutson at [email protected] and Will Connors at [email protected]09-22-13 08:51 PMLike 5 - It was also a used plane! I assume it was necessary expense, maybe the old one was due for replacement.morganplus8 likes this.09-22-13 08:51 PMLike 1
- I'm curious as to what those contracts are exactly too... Also, when you refer to service revenue, you guys are mean BES10, right?morganplus8 likes this.09-22-13 09:31 PMLike 1
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Hi Kid Vibe, I think the 8 contracts are for the BES10 services.09-22-13 09:40 PMLike 7 - What a title from WSJ, right? Did Blackberry include gentlemen services on its corporate jets or something? It bought one bigger plane to replace two smaller ones, and then sold all of them to cut expenses. Sure, this is a scandal.09-22-13 09:41 PMLike 6
- WSJ sure is working the BB story. Perhaps the scandal is BB has more jets than any potential buyers?09-22-13 09:50 PMLike 4
- yeah, under priced because of Friday's sell off. the news had leaked earlier and so was at least partially baked in already and the news set off panic selling.
and layoffs, as horrible as it is for the employees tend to get well received by the stock market.
oh yeah BBM, failed because it is too popular, so how is that a bad thing? granted could have been a better weekend for BBM, but it is coming anyways.09-22-13 09:57 PMLike 0 - That was an interesting article from the WSJ about the challenges facing BlackBerry. The company should take each one of those negative comments and either a) refute it or b) do something about it. If those are the perceptions, time to deal with them. For example:
Do rival MDM software solutions really "replicate" what BES can do, at the same level of security? If not, then demonstrate loudly why BES is the best choice. If they are legit rivals, then show why BlackBerry customer service and pricing make BES the better bet.
If the CIO of Cal Berkeley doesn't see one BlackBerry being used by school administrators, then he hasn't seen BB10, and I don't blame him for thinking that no one will go back to BlackBerry. Finalize 10.2, and send him 20 Z10s and Q10s for his people. Throw in some Z30s for him and closest staff, and the University leadership.
Take this statement > "reinvent mobile computing if they plan to regain the trust of the enterprise customer," said Mr. Menefee of the Schumacher Group. "I just don't see it happening.". Regain the trust?!? Hammer this point. When did BlackBerry betray trust? BlackBerry might have made terrible management decisions that have left the company with a SERIOUS uphill battle, but its security is the gold standard. Failing to keep up is not breaking trust; phones that are easily hacked, though, are another story.
Here's the deal, BlackBerry. You made an amazing product with BB10, backed by a great network. But you have done a terrible job of showing it to people. So get out there. Send these companies Z30s and Z10s. Not to the IT guys only, send them to leadership. Tell them they can use them for one month, free. If they don't like them they can send them back. If they want to keep them, offer a great deal. You're willing to let people test-drive BES, time to let people test-drive BB10. That kind of strategy might hurt the margin for a while, but at least its a strategy for gaining share going forward.Last edited by Reed Richards; 09-22-13 at 10:24 PM. Reason: Cleaned up typos
09-22-13 10:21 PMLike 14 - Using Morgan's estimate of $300 / unit, which I think makes sense as a representation of 2.2 million Q10 and Q5 combined, we have $600 million to show in December ER. Let's say service revenue is either the same $800 million or up a bit. We have $1.4 billion already to show. When we add other phones sold through to end customers in the quarter of December ER, let's say, there is no increase to be conservative, another 2.2 million, we have another $600 million. The total so far is $2 billion in revenue. Assuming $1.4 billion operating expense even after additional cost cutting measures, and no more inventory write off; we have $600 million in profit.
This is a rough calculation, of course. Possible?09-22-13 10:48 PMLike 5 -
OK, poor analogy, but you get the picture.Last edited by Bacon Munchers; 09-23-13 at 01:01 AM.
09-23-13 12:10 AMLike 5
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