[elfabio80]

He's getting money for businesses that couldn't be sold before his arrival. BBM was dead long before, again BB10 accelerated this with compatible WhatsApp.

BBM had huge potentials.... 50 milions users at least was not a small quantity. Chen had no idea probably what BBM was. From a software/financial point of you I am sure they had the possibility to improve this app and get it positive in the cash flow. And not just licensing to a low level Indonesian company spamming its users! It is their job(bb management) to improve the software and improve the things, moving them into a positive financial trend,not of us here. They could have ended probably licensing anyway...but do you want to compare a great app with a big users base, with a one healty like a skeleton?

Then maybe it was better to stop the servers and amen Chuck!!

Posted via CB10

[elfabio80]

I forgot the maxim that Dear Leader Chen can make no mistakes. It was not his fault that he failed to monetize BBM as he promised.

The maxim Dear Leader Chen is amazing....i am laughing without end!! Lol!!

Posted via CB10

[conite]

It is their job(bb management) to improve the software and improve the things, moving them into a positive financial trend,not of us here.

It is also management's job to allocate finite resources to those projects that have the best opportunity for profitability.

With all of the data that was at their disposal, they made the call that consumer BBM was no longer worth the effort.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

BBM had huge potentials.... 50 milions users at least was not a small quantity. Chen had no idea probably what BBM was. From a software/financial point of you I am sure they had the possibility to improve this app and get it positive in the cash flow. And not just licensing to a low level Indonesian company spamming its users! It is their job(bb management) to improve the software and improve the things, moving them into a positive financial trend,not of us here. They could have ended probably licensing anyway...but do you want to compare a great app with a big users base, with a one healty like a skeleton?

Then maybe it was better to stop the servers and amen Chuck!!

Posted via CB10

I doubt Chen did know what BBM was... but he built a team around him that did know. And the simple answer is BBM was a very buggy cross-platform messenger in 2013/2014.... heck even today if you look at reviews it a mess.

What was Chen to do... invest more money into "maybe" fixing it and "maybe" gaining market-share against the giants in social media (some of whom make no revenue)? Or focus on areas where he had more confidence?

But as it stands, BBM is going to become more and more "commercialized" as Emtek looks for a way to pay for the licensing they agreed too.

[elfabio80]

It is also management's job to allocate finite resources to those projects that have the best opportunity for profitability.

With all of the data that was at their disposal, they made the call that consumer BBM was no longer worth the effort.

You are also right..... but when you have financial problems, you delete any vision and concentrate on easy and fast results, like licensing.

Now....one point...how many patents owns BlackBerry? Are they licensing them? Or simply waiting somebody to adopt them and then waiting for jurisdictional actions?

Posted via CB10

[elfabio80]

I doubt Chen did know what BBM was... but he built a team around him that did know. And the simple answer is BBM was a very buggy cross-platform messenger in 2013/2014.... heck even today if you look at reviews it a mess.

What was Chen to do... invest more money into "maybe" fixing it and "maybe" gaining market-share against the giants in social media (some of whom make no revenue)? Or focus on areas where he had more confidence?

But as it stands, BBM is going to become more and more "commercialized" as Emtek looks for a way to pay for the licensing they agreed too.

Well....we could have today BBM instead of Whatsapp and telegram as main apps....not bad for BlackBerry and it's shareholders , right?

Posted via CB10

[conite]

Now....one point...how many patents owns BlackBerry? Are they licensing them? Or simply waiting somebody to adopt them and then waiting for jurisdictional actions?

Posted via CB10

All are business decisions on a case by case basis. You try and maximize profits and monetize your patents through development, licencing, or litigation.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Well....we could have today BBM instead of Whatsapp and telegram as main apps....not bad for BlackBerry and it's shareholders , right?

Posted via CB10

Depends on what kinda cost it would have taken to make BBM a viable option.... it's the same reason BlackBerry doesn't make phones. By the time Chen came on board, it was too late for BBM....

[conite]

Think of Chen as a doctor who arrives at a battle. The first thing you do, is have to make very difficult decisions - battlefield triage. You absorb the available data, and then you put your resources into what you think you can save, and you discard what you can't.

Don't forget, Blackberry was knocking at the door of insolvency.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Think of Chen as a doctor who arrives at a battle. The first thing you do, is have to make very difficult decisions - battlefield triage. You absorb the available data, and then you put your resources into what you think you can save, and you discard what you can't.

Don't forget, Blackberry was knocking at the door of insolvency.

I think some of the "I support BlackBerry" investors didn't appreciate that while Chen was "triaging" he was also blowing smoke in their eyes. Chen did a great job saving the "a" company, but he also fooled a number of "fans" into really believing in the future of BB10, BBM, Nanthealth, IoT..... Sadly it's what he had to do, to buy himself time.

Never taught that being a FAN/INVESTOR was a good idea...

[markmall]

Think of Chen as a doctor who arrives at a battle. The first thing you do, is have to make very difficult decisions - battlefield triage. You absorb the available data, and then you put your resources into what you think you can save, and you discard what you can't.

Don't forget, Blackberry was knocking at the door of insolvency.

A company verging on insolvency does not spend $1B or whatever buying up speculative startup companies. There has not been any risk of insolvency and if there ever was never since Prem's deal.

Posted via CB10

[conite]

A company verging on insolvency does not spend $1B or whatever buying up speculative startup companies. There has not been any risk of insolvency and if there ever was never since Prem's deal.

Posted via CB10

All the publicly available numbers are in stark contrast to this statement.

There was nothing speculative about Good.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

All the publicly available numbers are in stark contrast to this statement.

There was nothing speculative about Good.

Exactly... Good and most the other purchases that Chen made... FIT within his plan of a security focused company for enterprise and government with niche solutions. The odd thing is they didn't buy anything to complement QNX or expand their Automotive solutions. They are kinda playing catch-up on self driving...

BES had issues with Android and iOS device management, it rated very poorly on managing and security with those platforms. But with Good, BlackBerry had the whole package for device management... plus an existing customer pool.

Kinda expect BlackBerry to make additional "investments" with the cash that the Qualcomm settlement brought them. But then I've also always taught that the real goal was to find someone to buy BlackBerry. Think that showing the value of the IP is one way they are really pushing this.

[Chuck Finley69]

BBM had huge potentials.... 50 milions users at least was not a small quantity. Chen had no idea probably what BBM was. From a software/financial point of you I am sure they had the possibility to improve this app and get it positive in the cash flow. And not just licensing to a low level Indonesian company spamming its users! It is their job(bb management) to improve the software and improve the things, moving them into a positive financial trend,not of us here. They could have ended probably licensing anyway...but do you want to compare a great app with a big users base, with a one healty like a skeleton?

Then maybe it was better to stop the servers and amen Chuck!!

Posted via CB10

BBM was big with the BBOS users. Long before Chen, WhatsApp connected people in the ways that BBM didn't with phone numbers. When Chen was hired, whatever BBM users left were in places still using BIS like Indonesia. Literally, even if BB had the economic resources to pour into BBM, the resources behind WhatsApp or iMessage dwarfed those dollars 10-20 fold with the advantage of being the incumbent two systems.

Buying out your competition with the limited resources available, when they have the better product was a much safer and smarter bet that paid off immediately. BB, even with the capital infusion, was close to eloping with the grim reaper.

[markmall]

BB, even with the capital infusion, was close to eloping with the grim reaper.

Sorry, but this is not close to being true. Not even close. It's balance sheet was never in that bad of shape and especially after the capital infusion. Why else was Chen paying cash for all those companies?

[Chuck Finley69]

Sorry, but this is not close to being true. Not even close. It's balance sheet was never in that bad of shape and especially after the capital infusion. Why else was Chen paying cash for all those companies?

The balance sheet is a picture in time, like seeing a large table piled with food and thinking how big the prime rib, ham and turkey are plus all the sides and trimmings. Unfortunately, there’s 100 people to feed and not 25 people you have enough food to feed.

BlackBerry’s problem was their cash flow statements. They had been consistently negative because of all the cash spent developing the BB10 OS. Two years before Chen arrived, the company was spending general manager level money while the income had dropped to entry-level part-time receptionist level money. The capital infusion was like a severance package and you’re complaining the fired employee used the money to get a new similar entry-level job and training in a new field instead of going on vacation with it.

[markmall]

I know about financial statements. When measuring solvency I would look at a balance sheet first.

Posted via CB10

[conite]

I know about financial statements. When measuring solvency I would look at a balance sheet first.

Posted via CB10

"Chen was named CEO in November 2013. One of his first tasks as chief executive was to announce a record $4.4-billion (U.S.) quarterly loss. But, unlike his predecessors, Chen moved decisively, approaching the challenge like a battlefield surgeon: The patient was profusely bleeding red ink, so the first priority was getting enough money on the balance sheet to prevent IMMEDIATE death." - Globe and Mail

Don't forget, this is AFTER Prem's cash injection.

[Chuck Finley69]

I know about financial statements. When measuring solvency I would look at a balance sheet first.

Posted via CB10

Well then why did you bring up balance sheet as measure of cash? Statement of cash flows is the most important statement when discussing troubled companies future strategies with existing free cash flow?

[vladi]

How should Emtek earn revenues on BBM in your opinion?

By offering users something they are willing to pay for. Current strategy is equal of signing up with webmail service only to get spam emails... oh that's Yahoo! :_

[conite]

By offering users something they are willing to pay for.

Such as?

And keep in mind that WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Telegram do it for free.

[markmall]

Well then why did you bring up balance sheet as measure of cash? Statement of cash flows is the most important statement when discussing troubled companies future strategies with existing free cash flow?

The issue wasn't future strategies. It was the risk of imminent bankruptcy.

Posted via CB10

[markmall]

"Chen was named CEO in November 2013. One of his first tasks as chief executive was to announce a record $4.4-billion (U.S.) quarterly loss. But, unlike his predecessors, Chen moved decisively, approaching the challenge like a battlefield surgeon: The patient was profusely bleeding red ink, so the first priority was getting enough money on the balance sheet to prevent IMMEDIATE death." - Globe and Mail

Don't forget, this is AFTER Prem's cash injection.

Do you really think journalism school grads know anything about finance? This reads like a hyperbolic puff piece purchased by Prem's PR agent. I don't know why you would rely on it.

Posted via CB10

[conite]

Do you really think journalism school grads know anything about finance? This reads like a hyperbolic puff piece purchased by Prem's PR agent. I don't know why you would rely on it.

Posted via CB10

It was an investigative journalist by one of the top business papers in Canada, interviewing the CEO of BlackBerry.

What do you have?

[markmall]

It was an investigative journalist by one of the top business papers in Canada, interviewing the CEO of BlackBerry.

What do you have?

I'm not trying to compare sources. My point is a puff piece interview with a CEO is not authoritative for anything.

Posted via CB10