[JonCBK]

I'm pretty sure that hardware shutdown won't happen.
I wrote about it in another thread, with several other considerations.
here : http://forums.crackberry.com/news-ru...ml#post9227806

I can't see the entire handset division getting shut down. And I really can't see the QWERTY part of it. But I've been completely wrong about the market's desire for QWERTY devices. But maybe it is just that folks don't want them at this price. Maybe at a lower price people will carry two devices (iphone and blackberry is a common thing that I see). And I could see BBRY being able to slowly lower the cost of their QWERTY BB10 devices and still make a profit on them.

[W Hoa]

I think Prem's offer will go something like this..(please understand that this is my feeble attempt at humor):

Yesterday, an unreleased, older version of a BBRY buyout offer was posted on numerous media sites. We were aware of an issue with this unreleased version of the BBRY buyout offer. This older version resulted in volumes of news stories of magnitude higher than normal and impacted the news flow in abnormal ways. The version we were planning to release on Monday addressed these issues, however we could not block news of the unreleased version even if we went ahead with the correct news release of the buyout offer.

We attempted to address the problems caused by the unreleased version throughout the day on Monday, but as active viewers of the unreleased offer neared a million – and accelerated – it became clear that the only way to address the issue was to pause the news rollout.

[Bilaal]

3 contracts announced, BOOM

Posted via CB10

[morlock_man]

Don't know if this has already been discussed, but the offer from FairFax does set a low end for anyone short selling. This could be seen as a protective measure as they come into a weak ER.

Besides that, does anyone know what a $9 offer means to anyone currently shorting shares?

[cjcampbell]

3 contracts announced, BOOM

Posted via CB10

They aren't huge but they are adopting BES10 and moving beyond the test phase.

UK Enterprises Embrace BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 - Yahoo Finance

Empresas POLAR S.A. Upgrades to BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 - Yahoo Finance

[Randeman]

Ya but, Ya but...at least one of those was from Venezuela. Doesn't that mean they essentially get it for free?

[silversun10]

3 contracts announced, BOOM

Posted via CB10

now they start marketing the company with Fairfax's $9 bid as the floor, who knows might work

[cjcampbell]

Ya but, Ya but...at least one of those was from Venezuela. Doesn't that mean they essentially get it for free?

lol... As soon as I saw the "V" word, I chuckled a little.

[greggebhardt]

Discl : this is pure speculation.

On that we agree! Only time will tell. We can hope for more bids, it would be nice to see the investors get at least $15 back.

Time will tell.

[greggebhardt]

Which is why hardware is toast - who is going to spunk millions if not billions on developing and trying to sell handsets in a market where ever the prosumers and enterprises are happy with other devices. While you can provide niche services, you can't provide niche handsets, the development costs are the same (unless you make crappy devices). They will spin out the fantasy of hardware long enough to sell off the remaining handsets or give them effectively free to enterprises to try and drive up BES adoption.

I just can not imagine Blackberry without hardware. The "niche" thing does not make sense to me. I guess we will know in the weeks to come. A few bids would be nice to get the price up some for the investors but from who?

[Andrew4life]

They aren't huge but they are adopting BES10 and moving beyond the test phase.

UK Enterprises Embrace BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 - Yahoo Finance

Empresas POLAR S.A. Upgrades to BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 - Yahoo Finance

Too bad the good news is not going to help the stock right now. It is going to be pinned to $9 due to the buyout.

Posted via CB10

[m0de25]

For those who think the constant media bashing of BB is a figment of our long imagination, or was not a factor at all otherwise... Tell me, would you as a consumer be drooling over these fine published images?

http://bgr.com/gallery/blackberry-kopi/

Even I can't even see past the fingerprints, for **** sakes.

Yes, ultimately Blackberry has themselves to blame for its failures, but they at least deserved unbiased treatment in its rebuilding.

[Superfly_FR]

I just can not imagine Blackberry without hardware. The "niche" thing does not make sense to me. I guess we will know in the weeks to come. A few bids would be nice to get the price up some for the investors but from who?

The "niche" is a sharp marketing segment. Yet, if we consider services revenues, CALs, and device volumes, I believe it's a confusion to understand it as "tiny" like the "niche" word may suggest. If I'm not under acid, I believe they can afford to sell the device with lower gross margins (near zero ?) that would result in a Z10/Q10 with facial value under $300. Add some CALs incentive ...

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I just can not imagine Blackberry without hardware. The "niche" thing does not make sense to me. I guess we will know in the weeks to come. A few bids would be nice to get the price up some for the investors but from who?

Heard a lot of talk about BB concentrating on a "niche" market. At 2% of the market, aren't they already a "niche" player??


The simple truth is what ANYONE says today, is not written in stone. If FairFax buys BB, they will take time to really look at the hardware business and what the EXPERTS think can and cannot be done. THEN and only THEN will the finally decided to either relaunch, scale back or kill it.

[m1a1mg]

I'd be most interested in seeing the numbers this Friday. I think until the full report comes out, any value is a guess.

[cgk]

Cgk,

unless someone takes on hardware where it is already their primary business, like Samsung or lenovo..

That way they are simply adding volume to the current business through another brand.

Marketing costs would be Zero as they are not going to marketed to consumer. R and D would be negligible as they are doing it anyway.

It makes a lot of sense for a company like that. The issue is would the Canadians allow it/would they retain a lot of their contracts.

I don't see your logic.

Posted via CB10

It's pretty straight forward, how do you add volume with something that nobody wants to buy?

[Superfly_FR]

Heard a lot of talk about BB concentrating on a "niche" market. At 2% of the market, aren't they already a "niche" player??

No, they are "small" player.
The "niche" concept describes a sharp target with closed fences.
So far we know, it'll be enterprises segment.
While it's not - by far - the biggest one in volume, any B2B aware investor will tell that's where recurring revenues and higher margins are, especially when you have 1/20 the size of competitors on the consumers market.

Let's call a cat a cat. It's not a "niche": it's a warehouse.

[heymaggie]

It'll be interesting to see what the chart looks like today. An accepted buyout offer usually results in a flat line of a share price a few pennies under the offer.

[Bugmapper]

A lot of this comes down to what the banks and hedge funds want to do. If their ASP is above $9 will they be happy to give their shares to Prem, or refuse? Obviously we have no say, but what will the institutional owners say?

Are they looking for a way out? or do they see Prem as stealing away their investment?

[W Hoa]

08:03 AM EDT, 09/24/2013 (MT Newswires) -- Canada's BNN TV has cited a report by Scotiabank (BNS.TO) which says the bank believes there will be another bid for Blackberry (BB.TO, BBRY) that will beat the US$9 bid yesterday by Fairfax Financial (FFH.TO).

[Shanerredflag]

I agree with Kid...effectively this bid sells everything for a billion (after reducing for hard assets)....that seems awful cheap.

Globe and Mail is calling it a PR stunt to protect share price but now BNN is reporting Prem has a high priced banking consultant named TATE who has done deals with BUFFET....

Posted via CB10

[tiziano27]

Someone interested in MDM or hardware would have made an offer months ago. After months of uncertainty the core business is massively damaged. Those deal announcements are a prove of how bad is the situation.

I think there is still a probability that this offer is not firm and It's just a strategy to stop the stock price from going lower. In a couple of week if this move doesn't motivate other offers and the core business keep deteriorating, Watsa could say, 'well, we didn't get financing so the offer is retired'. The stock price would crush and he could bid even lower maybe with Lazaridis and other partners. The terms of this letter of intent should keep you alert, there is no strong floor yet.

Other possibility is Watsa having an agreement with Microsoft or other companies to sell the assets once the company is private. In that case no more offers are coming.

No many certainties yet.

[m1a1mg]

08:03 AM EDT, 09/24/2013 (MT Newswires) -- Canada's BNN TV has cited a report by Scotiabank (BNS.TO) which says the bank believes there will be another bid for Blackberry (BB.TO, BBRY) that will beat the US$9 bid yesterday by Fairfax Financial (FFH.TO).

And other's are reporting the opposite. Go figure.

Following this afternoon’s announcement that one of BlackBerry‘s (BBRY) long-time institutional holders, Fairfax Financial Holdings, will lead a consortium to take the company private, at $9 per share, there was some initial skepticism about competing bids, and even about Fairfax’s ability to raise financing for the $4.7 billion price tag.

BlackBerry shares closed up 10 cents, or 1%, at $8.82, below the $9 offer price.

According to report by CNBC‘s David Faber a short while ago, Fairfax, which has a 10% stake in BlackBerry, does not yet have the financing put together. The letter of intent submitted by Fairfax and partners, Faber said, “includes a ‘go shop’ period, which would allow BlackBerry to solicit and evaluate other bids.”

Citigroup’s Jim Suva, reiterating a Sell rating on the stock, and a $7 price target, this evening writes there is risk to Fairfax completing the necessary financing:

With the company’s cash balance at $2.5 bln (as per their press release on Friday but unclear how much is domestic and tax impact from repatriating cash to shareholders) or $4.77/share, the transaction values the company at $2.2 bln net of cash. We do note that given the company’s cash burn of $500 million in the August 2013 quarter and layoffs which will result in additional severance payments, there is risk to the cash balance. We also note that despite Fairfax’s 10% ownership stake in the company, this deal requires debt financing. Details of additional members in the consortium, their potential equity stake and deals of the debt financing are not available currently. We believe obtaining financing for BBRY given the severity of its business fundamentals deterioration poses a real risk in this transaction. We believe Fairfax is hoping to spur additional bidders which we see as unlikely.

Also this afternoon, Wells Fargo’s Maynard Um, who has a Market Perform rating on the shares, and an $8 to $9 “valuation range,” writes that ” We believe that another bidder may be unlikely given the recent performance of the company and any potential suitors will have to navigate through a multiyear restructuring plan (the breakup fee also raises the hurdle).”

BBRY: Citi, Wells Skeptical of Financing, Competing Bids - Tech Trader Daily - Barrons.com

[sparkaction]

08:03 AM EDT, 09/24/2013 (MT Newswires) -- Canada's BNN TV has cited a report by Scotiabank (BNS.TO) which says the bank believes there will be another bid for Blackberry (BB.TO, BBRY) that will beat the US$9 bid yesterday by Fairfax Financial (FFH.TO).

If this is true then maybe Prem is not a corporate the if but a catalyst to get other bidders out of the wood works. Who is playing who?

[cgk]

They aren't huge but they are adopting BES10 and moving beyond the test phase.

UK Enterprises Embrace BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 - Yahoo Finance

Empresas POLAR S.A. Upgrades to BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 - Yahoo Finance

Yowza - that is desperate -

Rocco Forte, a luxury hotel group, is using Secure Work Space for iOS� and Android™ to manage 60 tablets deployed to enable employees to access business-critical apps and information on-the-go. In addition, the company has deployed 200 new BlackBerry� 10 smartphones.

If that's best they are able to rustle up, I'll go back on my prediction about services - the rot has spread further than we thought.