[Komoto]

Cgk,

You are saying they are EOL, who else is?

I think they are fine.

As for not mentioning it, it didn't even occur to me. They did mention embedded OS which is QNX - bb10.

Maybe they think it has negative connotations.

They could even be looking to rebranding it. I think it is too early to say they are killing it.

Posted via CB10

[jake simmons3]

Some of the lowest volume I've ever seen...

Looks like all the shares are being pushed and bought by strong hands

[cgk]

Marketshare took another beating this quarter - likely to hit zero in a few more markets in a couple more quarters.

[plasmid_boy]

Once again he doesn't mention BB10 - it's dead - the way the letter is written it is easy for him to turn around and say "I never promised they would be OUR handsets" but it is good to see a BBRY CEO realise that this is needed.

He didn't mention QWERTY, so physical keyboard is dead.
He didn't mention touch-screen devices, do type-on-glass is also dead.
He didn't mention patents, so they must have sold.
He didn't mention staying in Waterloo, so BB has already moved to San Fransisco.

Absurd deductions right? Just like yours. LOL

[Corbu]

OT - I know this is OT but XOMA is en fuego today and is achieving a new 52 week high, as is HALO. I thought I could not pass on this opportunity to thank M+8 and others, in this thread. You guys are great!

Back to BBRY... I don't have any specific insight as to the future of BB10, which some seem to doubt... but it seems to me that "In short, reports of our death are greatly exaggerated" could also be applicable to BB10. BB10 is part of an end-to-end solution. BB10 is not even a year old, let's not forget that...

[morganplus8]

OT - hey M8! while researching more bio stocks, just like halo and xoma, baker bros are also buying Arrowhead Research Corp ($ARWR) which also tends to have a lot of potential. I know you like to keep it short since its a bb thread but what are your thoughts on this one? been on fire lately. thanks!

I promised to keep this short, anything Baker Brothers is good for you, they are amazing at identifying great biotech companies. They are involved in VNDA as well so there is no surprise that ACAD, HALO, XOMA, VNDA and ARWR are doing so well. Some are already priced too high for me to look at them now so I don't mention them. This one was yet another one that could do well of course. I'm selling Covered Calls on my HALO and moving into another investment. Try to map a chart pattern for each of these plays and follow the indicators here. No use paying too much. GL!

[peter9477]

Let's tip this on it's head then - given the EOL status and near EOL status of three out of four devices, when do you expect the next BB10 device to arrive?

With the caveat that I don't usually pay attention to this stuff, and that although I've seen people mention "Z50" I have no idea what sort of specs those might have (if they even exist), my guess would be that there won't be any new devices announced this year, and nothing new shipped before next summer at the earliest. I have, however, no track record of success with such predictions.

[peter9477]

Talk about "Rat Holes". This is getting dafter and dafter!

In his defence, if this is about cgk's posts, I think he's clearly been trying to fight his own biases and stay reasonably balanced, at least compared to past posts. I've tried to fight my own biases too, since those have been rather costly...

One never knows when someone will turn out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing, mind you, but the atmosphere around here has been clean enough for long enough that I think it would be nice to give people a reasonable bit of "benefit of the doubt".

Keeps it nice and sociable... After all, we came "this close" (holds up finger and thumb together with a paper's-thickness between them) to nuking this entire thread from the acrimony earlier.

[morganplus8]

Hey M8

Do you want to comment on this

BlackBerry - BBRY - Stock Quotes

it looks like between PREM and Mike they own 170 million shares

It is very confusing isn't it? Mike (his personal holdings) holds 5.4% of the outstanding shares, his partner (Doug) holds 2.6% of the O.S., together they hold 8.0% of the O.S or 8.0% of the company.

Prem holds 25 MM shares through Fairfax re: the recent bond offering and his Hamblin Holdings accounts for the other 9.9% of the company (51.9 MM shares), together they share ownership of 76.9 MM shares or 14.7% of the company. So if you take the 51.9 MM shares at Hamblin and add that to FairFax's 25 MM you get the combined total of 76.9 MM shares.

There is a double count of shares when they show individual shares plus partnership shares. So Mike and Doug own 41.7 MM shares and Prem all together (FairFax & Hamblin) owns 76.9 and together Mike and Prem own 118.6 MM shares. To make it even more difficult to understand, FairFax has first right of refusal to own 25 MM more shares if they take up the balance of the bond offering! We will know shortly if BBRY is going to sell an additional over-allotment of $ 250 MM bucks worth of those Convertible Bonds. Hope that explains things!

[lcjr]

Sorry, couldn't help but bring some needed cheer in here. Look here, Blackberry is even coming out with a device that the smaller markets can afford. You all have probably known this for a while but I guarentee you this is great news for those that want a great device at a lower cost than what we concider nominal. I'm sure they'll be more articles on this soon.

Will Blackberry 9720 Sway Market Opinion?, Articles | THISDAY LIVE

[Corbu]

BlackBerry Deja Vu: Open Letter Echoes Previous Stance - Canada Real Time - WSJ

Since taking over as BlackBerry Ltd.’s interim chief executive last month, John Chen has provided few details about how he plans to turn the struggling smartphone-maker around. On Monday the public got a glimpse, and it may look familiar.

In an open letter to BlackBerry customers, Mr. Chen said the company is “very much alive, thank you,” and that it’s “going back to [its] heritage and roots.”

When Mr. Chen’s appointment was announced, many analysts and investors speculated that one of the first things Mr. Chen would do is look for a way to exit the smartphone business. Sales of BlackBerrys, after all, have been declining for several consecutive quarters and the company’s newest line of phones flopped, leaving it with about $1 billion in unsold inventory.

In the letter, published on BlackBerry’s official blog, Mr. Chen said the company is still committed to handsets, which will be one of four areas of focus. The others include business-focused software solutions, its BlackBerry Messenger application, and what it calls “embedded systems.”

“We know that BlackBerry devices are not for everyone,” Mr. Chen writes. “That’s ok.”

If all this sounds familiar, that’s because BlackBerry issued a similar open letter in October, in which it said: “Yes, there is a lot of competition out there and we know that BlackBerry is not for everyone. That’s OK.”

The earlier letter also highlighted the company’s focus on security and solutions for businesses and government agencies.

Mr. Chen has been visiting key customers in recent weeks, with a main focus on government agencies, according to a person familiar with the matter. He’s also reworked the executive ranks at the Waterloo, Ontario-based company. Last month the company announced the departure of three key executives and a longtime board member.

But how exactly his path forward differs from that of his predecessor, Thorsten Heins, remains to be seen.

I must say, BlackBerry seems to never be given a break by the media... If it were me, I'd plan on changing that.

EDIT: John Chen's letter also made the BBC's site - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25191658

[cgk]

Sorry, couldn't help but bring some needed cheer in here. Look here, Blackberry is even coming out with a device that the smaller markets can afford. You all have probably known this for a while but I guarentee you this is great news for those that want a great device at a lower cost than what we concider nominal. I'm sure they'll be more articles on this soon.

Will Blackberry 9720 Sway Market Opinion?, Articles | THISDAY LIVE

I'm getting slightly confused now - is this actually a new device or a existing device in a new market? Because I'm sure the 9720 has been around for a while?

[lcjr]

I'm getting slightly confused now - is this actually a new device or a existing device in a new market? Because I'm sure the 9720 has been around for a while?

Both.This is a new phone which is based off the the Curve hitting a new market. The new BlackBerry 9720 features a large 2.8-inch touch display, which is same size as the once top in Blackberry Bold 9900. The two phones are also about the same size. But in BlackBerry 9720 BB, it is believed that fans will be getting a decently sized touch display at a more affordable price.

Here's a complete list of current phones from Blackberry. The 9720 isn't listed yet, but a placeholder is there (unhighlighted):

Smartphones - New BlackBerry Phones - Latest Smartphones 2013 from BlackBerry - US

[_dimi_]

Airwave promise an end-to-end mobile solution, so do Mobile Iron - remind me which mobile devices either company makes?

But having said that that is a excellent question - if it to be based around BB10 why does he carefully avoid any mention of it?

One can only conclude that dropping BB10 is a material fact that he doesn't want to announce in this during this quiet period before the EC or he's not quite sure yet if he is going to kill it so is being vague so he can go either way. If your CEO avoids mentioning a product once, it might be an oversight, if he does it twice, if he does it three times he's killing it.

I'm guessing that one possible option is a forked secure locked down android.

"We refocus back to our roots, BlackBerry will target four areas: handsets, EMM solutions, cross-platform messaging, and embedded systems."

This tells me BB10 isn't going anywhere, either on mobile device (handsets), in cars (embedded systems),...

Regarding handsets, why would he otherwise refer to:

"We have more certifications from government agencies than any other vendor and we?re the only EMM vendor and handset maker to receive the Department of Defense ?Authority to Operate? certification."

And last but not least:

"We know that BlackBerry devices are not for everyone. That?s OK."

That's ok, because he's NOT trying to persuade business to migrate away from Android or iOS with this letter. He understands the BYOD trend and wants to grow his MDM / EMM business.


Posted via CB10

[Superfly_FR]

Airwave promise an end-to-end mobile solution, so do Mobile Iron - remind me which mobile devices either company makes?

But having said that that is a excellent question - if it to be based around BB10 why does he carefully avoid any mention of it?

One can only conclude that dropping BB10 is a material fact that he doesn't want to announce in this during this quiet period before the EC or he's not quite sure yet if he is going to kill it so is being vague so he can go either way. If your CEO avoids mentioning a product once, it might be an oversight, if he does it twice, if he does it three times he's killing it.

I'm guessing that one possible option is a forked secure locked down android.

My very own take about this is the following :
1. Chen is the transition CEO #2
2. The transition has to be clear in the steps. And by no means he can criticize previous team on achievements.

While Heins was all about BB10, Chen must now aknowledge BB10 and BES10 are ready and show he's only focused on sales (the "plan" phase 3).

I'll say it again, on the macro plan, nothing really changed, only the target... and the expectations.

Finally, I think believing that changing either the device model or the OS would be synonymous of more delay. Read : death.

Visit my Superfly_fr Channel !

[lcjr]

Awesome trading day with a great finish. This is going to be an interesting week for me in deciding when to jump back in and how deep. Dang ER is week after next to add to the decision making process. lol

[lcjr]

Interesting video covering the upcoming Z50 and Q30:

[Komoto]

Super,

I agree with you. There was only really one viable plan for BlackBerry. Nothing has changed, same plan.

Posted via CB10

[peter9477]

Interesting video covering the upcoming Z50 and Q30:

"Covering" being a bit of an exaggeration. ;-)

He says the Z50 will have a 5.2" 1080P screen and launch in Q3 next year. Yes, that's all he says about it.

He says the Q30 will -- drumroll please -- "probably have a Qwerty keyboard" and will launch in Q2 next year.

I'll translate the technical words for the non-techies among you: "Um... I have no idea." He's as ignorant as we are about this, so he's at least got that going for him.

[lcjr]

I should have worded that better. What I was going after is that new devices are in fact coming out and there is talk about the Z50 and Q30. I guess that video didn't quite capture that. I'll go back to work now and look forward to beer-thirty.

[Superfly_FR]

Super,
I agree with you. There was only really one viable plan for BlackBerry. Nothing has changed, same plan.
Posted via CB10

Thanks, just to be sure I'm clear about it:
There was probably many options when Heins arrived. Well, not that many IMHO, but let's keep the door open.
But now, the Enterprise focus is already a huge adaptation (they have to fine tune everything); more would be self-destruction

[lucky2010]

M8, did you ever posted what's your bbm channel for investment?

Please let me know.

Posted via CB10

[spiller]

I promised to keep this short, anything Baker Brothers is good for you, they are amazing at identifying great biotech companies. They are involved in VNDA as well so there is no surprise that ACAD, HALO, XOMA, VNDA and ARWR are doing so well. Some are already priced too high for me to look at them now so I don't mention them. This one was yet another one that could do well of course. I'm selling Covered Calls on my HALO and moving into another investment. Try to map a chart pattern for each of these plays and follow the indicators here. No use paying too much. GL!

Can someone explain to me why there is pretty much zero time value on the HALO $10 strike march '14 calls? With stock over 15 why are these only worth $5.40? Whereas the 12.50 and 15 strikes do have some decent time value. Am I reading this right?

[kfh227]

Spiller, is that the last trade or bid or ask?

Posted via CB10

[spiller]

Last trade. Here is the current chart:


10.00 HALO140322C00010000 5.41 Up 0.21 5.40 5.60 16 2,767
11.00 HALO140322C00011000 4.80 0.00 4.70 4.80 30 869
12.50 HALO140322C00012500 3.80 Up 0.20 3.50 3.80 107 1,796
14.00 HALO140322C00014000 2.80 Up 0.15 2.70 2.90 160 4,051
15.00 HALO140322C00015000 2.40 Up 0.25 2.20 2.35 664 2,759