[sidhuk]

The Reuters report, for reference:

BlackBerry CEO would consider handset unit sale, eyes investments | Reuters

I like this line.
"
The chief executive said small acquisitions to strengthen BlackBerry's network security offerings were also possible. "

Edit: this is very shady news. it is almost tabloid like cherry pick and shoot. where is the full interview? cause i couldnt find it. small news, reported by 3 people and then it took 2 people to edit is for reuters. wow

[Corbu]

I like this line.
"
The chief executive said small acquisitions to strengthen BlackBerry's network security offerings were also possible. "

Edit: this is very shady news. it is almost tabloid like cherry pick and shoot. where is the full interview? cause i couldnt find it. small news, reported by 3 people and then it took 2 people to edit is for reuters. wow

Agreed. Could not find the interview either. Seems like he was in New York today since both Reuters and Bloomberg quote him. Sorry I could not find anything more in-depth. Will keep looking.

[sidhuk]

Agreed. Could not find the interview either. Seems like he was in New York today since both Reuters and Bloomberg quote him. Sorry I could not find anything more in-depth. Will keep looking.

JC is very good at rebuttal. I am sure we will hear a clarification. thanks for the link Bro.

[Corbu]

The Bloomberg story has just been updated. Here is the latest:

BlackBerry CEO Sets 2-Year Goal to Cut Device Reliance - Bloomberg

BlackBerry Ltd. (BBRY)’s John Chen is giving himself two years to overhaul the smartphone maker and offset declining handset demand with sales of software that connects computers with all manner of machines, from cars to heart monitors.

Chen, who took over as chief executive officer in November, is stepping up BlackBerry’s reliance on business customers instead of the smartphones that made the company famous. In the worst-case scenario in which he misses his goal of generating cash flow by this fiscal year, Chen said he’ll have six to eight quarters to replace declining hardware sales with higher-margin software revenue.

“I don’t have a plan to get rid of handsets, I have a plan to not be dependent on handsets,” Chen said yesterday in an interview at Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York. “All I need to do is replace the handset revenue, and this company will be very different.”

The shift is the key to Chen’s goal of returning the money-losing company to profit by the fiscal year that ends in March 2016. Chen is in a race against time with device sales continuing to slide -- 77 percent last quarter alone from a year earlier. His plan to create fresh revenue streams from its QNX software and BBM instant-messaging services has been welcomed by investors who’ve driven the stock up 23 percent since he took the helm after a failed sale process.

QNX Purchase

BlackBerry bought QNX in 2010 for $200 million from Harman International Industries Ltd. and set about building a new smartphone operating system, BlackBerry 10, on the software. It’s already widely used in cars and industrial settings like coal mines and hospitals. Now Chen wants to make it more prevalent anywhere machines need to communicate with other machines.

“This is where the industry is going,” Chen said. “It’s all about device interaction. This is why it’s so important to be agnostic.”

Chen said that by replacing single-digit phone margins with software margins that are routinely 70 percent to 90 percent, BlackBerry can be profitable with the same level of revenue. Chen reiterated yesterday that he expects the Waterloo, Ontario-based company to stop losing cash by the end of this fiscal year.

The company is focused on supplying both software and hardware to customers in regulated industries such as finance, government, health care and law who need security, risk management and high productivity, Chen said. About 80 percent of BlackBerry’s installed base of smartphone customers are in a regulated industry, and an even higher percentage of customers dependent on its servers are in such a field, he said.

Restoring Value

Emphasizing this core base of users and technology that caters to them “will be the best way to capture and reverse the decline of our value,” he said.

Chen took over after a plan to sell BlackBerry and take it private had collapsed. He said that he’s focused on making BlackBerry competitive again, not selling the company at a distressed price.

“I’m not running the company for a sale,” Chen said. “I’m running the company to generate value, to grow the business.’

He pointed out that he ran Pyramid Technology Corp. for five years before he sold it and Sybase Inc. for 12 years before SAP AG (SAP) bought it for $5.8 billion in 2010.

Chen inherited a company that had already been losing smartphone market share to Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. for years. As recently as late 2010, BlackBerry claimed 19 percent of the global smartphone market, according to IDC. By December of last year, it had slipped to 0.6 percent.

T-Mobile Fallout

As the company shifts its emphasis to supplying software and services, Chen recently decided to end BlackBerry’s partnership with T-Mobile US Inc.

In February, T-Mobile started offering to swap new iPhones for old BlackBerrys. Last week, Chen said he won’t renew the supply agreement with T-Mobile, the fourth-largest U.S. wireless carrier, saying that their strategies are ‘‘not complementary.”

“What kind of business person am I when I knowingly am giving a license for a company to move my customers away?” Chen said yesterday in the interview.

Severing ties with BlackBerry critics, cementing loyalties with other carriers and bringing back the older and popular BlackBerry Bold phone have been among the latest steps in Chen’s efforts to restore faith in the company.

“It was easier to do this with T-Mobile,” he said. “They are clearly focused on consumers, and I’m clearly focused on enterprise. So this is a different conversation if it was AT&T (T) or Verizon. (VZ)”

In recent weeks, BlackBerry also has taken legal action to try to stamp out product leaks and just won a court order convincing a judge that Typo Products LLC probably infringed its patents with its clip-on keyboard.

The move to cut ties with T-Mobile wasn’t emotional, he said. It was to send a signal.

“I wanted to make sure the world knows that we are not going to let people push us around,” Chen said.

[sidhuk]

Now this is the classic John Chen story.

Posted using Z30. Best of the best Smart phone in the world.

[sidhuk]

http://www.reuters.com/video/2014/04...+%2F+Business)

This is the video of the actual interview. It shows that most of the reporters are just piece of work.

Posted using Z30. Best of the best Smart phone in the world.

[Im Mo Green]

"All I need to do is replace the handset revenue, and this company will be very different.”

Not only the company, but also the stock. You wont be seeing single digits anymore. Go BBRY!!!

[laketrout73]

http://www.reuters.com/video/2014/04...+%2F+Business)

This is the video of the actual interview. It shows that most of the reporters are just piece of work.

Posted using Z30. Best of the best Smart phone in the world.

Wow, after watching that I can't believe how misleading the flurry of articles today are, including the copy and paste article on CrackBerry today. Truly lazy and fraudulent reporting.

Z10 STL100-3 |10.2.1.2141 | Bell | CB10

[georg4BB]

Wow, after watching that I can't believe how misleading the flurry of articles today are, including the copy and paste article on CrackBerry today. Truly lazy and fraudulent reporting.

I Agree. Saw this misleading headline at Crackberry this morning. One of the darkest days of poor blogging at CrackBerry IMHO.
Now my bloodpressure is high, and I have a healthcheck in half an hour. Damn.

[greggebhardt]

Just when I thought that Chen knew what he was doing, he drops a bomb like this! What an *****!

Watch what BBRY does today. Do not stand under it as you will get crushed!

[_dimi_]

Just when I thought that Chen knew what he was doing, he drops a bomb like this! What an *****!

Watch what BBRY does today. Do not stand under it as you will get crushed!

Just for future reference ;-)

Why is anyone surprised with this news?

1. Replace handset revenue with services, software revenue from BES12, BBM and QNX/NOC at a later stage
2. Build the BlackBerry Classic which will help to minimize outstanding commitments towards suppliers etc and help stimulate BES12 uptake
3. Find a secure manufacturer for future BB10/11/... devices in a hardware/patent cash deal that should enable them to do acquisitions to grow revenue more aggressively


Posted via CB10

[Shanerredflag]

Agree...I think there may be a bit of a language mis-que there....replace is not synonymous with remove (in JC's intended context)...misleading indeed.
Well...3am and off to work, have a great day.

Is that a Z30...yes, yes it is.

[BBUK14]

What a great bit of BlackBerry self sabotage. Voice that you might stop selling phones, and then release a new phone. Amazing.

We can all say that Chen was misquoted, but they should know by now that they need to be careful with the media.

I'm holding the stock I have, but I've grown very sceptical about BlackBerry's ability to ability to get their PR right. I'm just hoping that the products and services they offer are good enough to override their hopelessness in PR.

Chen...wow...what a dumb thing to say publicly...

Join the Cause @ BlackBerry Bootleg Marketing Channel - C003483F4

[georg4BB]

Just when I thought that Chen knew what he was doing, he drops a bomb like this! What an *****!
Watch what BBRY does today. Do not stand under it as you will get crushed!

The crazy thing is there is no bomb at all. But the headline suggests, that Chen has plans to drop the handset business when it will be not profitable anytime soon. It looks like he is getting impatience now, an he has specific plans. This is the way the people get it. Read the comments, how upset the readers are.

First, it's NO news at all that the business needs to make profit. Chen said this from day one.
Second, he also said in the same context “I don’t have a plan to get rid of handsets” and “I’m not running the company for a sale,” which is the opposite of the headline suggestions. And he set the timeframe to 2 years to be profitable with handsets, which is more then I expected. To me it sounds like he has patience and wants to fight to make it profitable.
It is natural, that BB needs to get rid of handset-business, when they still loose money in two years. There is absolutely no news and no bomb at all.

These headlines are made to upset customers and it's embarrassing that CrackBerry is spreading this *****.

[greggebhardt]

When you say it upsets customers, investors are customers, too!

It was not a wise thing for the CEO to say. Nothing like spooking the flock!

BBRY has enough problems and does not need this kind of "help" from the CEO!

[Superfly_FR]

Someone just told me "you can't hate something you didn't love".
Did some of you joined the dance or is it just a nitpicking contest ?

Chen is leading to the direction of 70-90% services margins V.S single digit (if any) on hardware and explains that with the same level of revenues, it'll lead to profit. The option to drop hardware (read : make hardware under another brand) is possible (only a fool won't note that) yet clearly not favored.

Why is that some seems to jump on three words without the context ?

Watch the interview and make your own mind.
BlackBerry CEO says his handsets will make money by next year | Video | Reuters.com
Reuters title is not clear enough ?

Just chill out. This is nowhere on the roadmap.

[ibpluto]

Not seeing any issue with what Chen said. If I'm an investor I translate this to he will do what ever it takes to make BlackBerry profitable and if that means at the expense of some fan boys being **** hurt, so be it.

I have to laugh at how that line was cherry picked from all the other stuff that was said and a headline made from it......yup no media bias there eh? smh

CB10'n it via da Z...30

[georg4BB]

It was not a wise thing for the CEO to say. Nothing like spooking the flock!

I agree. As a veteran CEO he should know, how headlines are made. He needs to be more careful.
Still can't believe that even CrackBerry...

Maybe some investors will like it. They see the handset business as already dead and a complete transitions to enterprise and services is what they want. I predict BBRY will go up. Will be interesting to watch the stock today.

[Superfly_FR]

I agree. As a veteran CEO he should know, how headlines are made. He needs to be more careful.
Still can't believe that even CrackBerry...

Maybe some investors will like it. They see the handset business as already dead and a complete transitions to enterprise and services is what they want. I predict BBRY will go up. Will be interesting to watch the stock today.

As a foreigner, and somehow given by God some memory, my guess is that "will" has replaced "would" in his sentence. The exact same statement (with "would") was made some months ago (will find it when my rage will be gone).

I'm sick of that CB blog post, refered to Kevin and Ambassadors lead team.
As a result, I'm on strike for today. not anymore, after Kevin's update.
See ya tomorrow guys.

[OMGitworks]

I saw Chen's news on CNCB crawler. There are some things in life that are absolutely true but shouldn't be said. He should know better. This won't help, it"s teh smaller versin of BBRY is up for sale. Are CPO's going to approve handset purchases if this is out there floating aorund?

Not tragic, but it just won't help.

[BBUK14]

I saw Chen's news on CNCB crawler. There are some things in life that are absolutely true but shouldn't be said. He should know better. This won't help, it"s teh smaller versin of BBRY is up for sale. Are CPO's going to approve handset purchases if this is out there floating aorund?

Not tragic, but it just won't help.

You have summed the issue up well. No matter which way we spin it, Chen needs to stop with the equivocal comments. What good does saying 'well, I can't guarantee anything..' do ? I like the conservatism, and I understand that he wants to take pressure off the stock and company from people who are concerned about losing money on the device side of things, but if you ARE still selling devices, it's stupid to say anything that might hurt that part of the business. The message should be that BlackBerry is going nowhere, and that people and companies should feel safe committing to BlackBerry 10, etc.

Join the Cause @ BlackBerry Bootleg Marketing Channel - C003483F4

[morlock_man]

Prediction: This stock is going to pop around the end of April or first week of May.

Also, it is in Chen's best interest to not be seen as doing anything to inflate the stock at this moment.

He's purposefully being vague.

He's downplaying the device side of the business because he still expects it to take off with Foxconn.

“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

[Superfly_FR]

For context and clarification, John Chen also said to Reuters "it should be possible to make money off shipments of as few as 10 million a year".

Additionally, on background, even at lower rates Chen believes BlackBerry can make a profit from its Devices business. This is more a question of diversifying BlackBerry's revenue mix, not of considering an exit from the handset business.

Note also, Chen stated to Bloomberg he did not "plan to get rid of handsets; I have a plan to not be dependent on handsets "(see: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-0...-reliance.html).

[Komoto]

I think everyone is making a big deal out of this.

Watch the interview, he says absolutely nothing of the sort.

Every time I hear him I am more confident in the plan. He just seems very honest. No BS.

Posted via CB10

[Corbu]

I have just listened to the Reuters video interview (which was published 4 hours after their initial report) and, quite frankly, I almost regret posting my entry last night.

The information had just come out and I felt I needed to post it since it had already started spreading. So, we might as well know.

The problem, as I see it, is very simple. Reuters came up with a nasty and misleading headline: "BlackBerry may consider exiting handsets, eyes investments".

As a matter of fact, John Chen specifically says the opposite - "We will be in the handset business" - in the interview.

Furthermore, everyone (including CB) is concentrating on the Reuters article while Bloomberg published a more in-depth and professional account of their interview with John Chen.

Which goes to prove my point: we need to hear the man speak and we need to know what he says. Not what some headline editor says he said.

I apologize to all of you if I contributed to the misunderstanding last night. That was not my goal. I wanted to get the information out. And all we had - or what most people stuck to - initially, was that Reuters misleading headline.