[dalinxz]

Before I begin, I will note that these are my thoughts and opinions only, if you're planning on attacking, please discontinue reading, this is not for you. I have been browsing these forums for some time and am a shareholder (long) for many years, but I've come to realize that the main people left with BlackBerry are the individuals who are deluded to think this company will survive or ever become anything like its glory days.

My main point however, is that John Chen is constantly touted as being some sort of saviour, however, all his actions have mostly caused harm to BlackBerry and its shareholders, as well as the company. All he's done is continue to alienate various stakeholders, which RIM constantly did (media, consumers, businesses) and now BBRY continues down this same path. John Chen is no hero, if you think about the number of items he's said he's been working on and how there are things in the pipeline, this is nothing but conjecture. John Chen does nothing but blow smoke, he may have a plan, but it's not working. He is not the man for the job, we aren't living in a world of tech like we were in his Sybase days. The world has changed, technology has changed, John Chen no longer understands change in the tech world. If we look back at the many 'events' that we have 'waited' for, they have all been half-assed, mediocre outcomes with Chen; resulting in nothing but a further falling share price and no better results for the company. His words continue to damage the company, when he speaks, especially with the media, even he seems like he doesn't believe in the company, his actions and comments further toll the company.

Now to my point, the reality check, so many BlackBerry fans (including myself) are deluded into thinking this company will be something, but the reality is that it won't and likely never will, it seems that complacency and a lack of transparency have returned as the modus operandi for this company. The delusionists mention IOT, QNX, ..... the list goes on, but how much has actually happened, other companies, are jumping and taking advantage of these markets and John Chen, "... it's coming, watch I have a surprise", and when announced, "so we are full speed ahead on the IOT front, and QNX is doing wonderful, we're in millions of cars" not mentioning that those millions of those cars bring in no revenue, and cannot be monetized. In the meantime other companies are aggressively pursuing their ideas through full transparency, open source projects, and implementation at relatively high speeds. For those who will say larger companies have more resources, in many ways this may have some affect, however if anything BlackBerry is a company that should be smaller, thus more adaptable and a faster moving company in being first to market.

I could go on; but what I came here to say, is, Let's stop making excuses for BlackBerry otherwise they have no reason to change and will fail and fall by the wayside and you can count my words on this!

[bobby1966]

Chen is changing the focus of Blackberry. He really wants to go back to what made BlackBerry, government and business. Not good news for consumers, but BlackBerry was never created for consumers.

Which is where blackberry went wrong. They never thought that consumers would drive the smart phone market hence being late to the game.

Had BB10 come out in 2010 or earlier, things would be different.

Via my Z30 on the Telus network

[dalinxz]

Chen is changing the focus of Blackberry. He really wants to go back to what made BlackBerry, government and business. Not good news for consumers, but BlackBerry was never created for consumers.

Which is where blackberry went wrong. They never thought that consumers would drive the smart phone market hence being late to the game.

Had BB10 come out in 2010 or earlier, things would be different.

Via my Z30 on the Telus network

I see this as shortsighted, BlackBerry was an enterprise player, then it caught consumers by storm. The company maintained it's focus on enterprise while consumers demanded more, and when BlackBerry finally decided to give consumers what they wanted, after competition began increasing, they pumped out lackluster products, and non-competing products. They essentially relied on their branding and goodwill to push their products. While the other companies of the world were creating an increasingly wide supply chain and increasing service to consumers, BlackBerry continued to push back. I think anyone who has a BlackBerry and has to have theirs repaired can attest to this. If the device is second hand, good god, might as well not even have the phone.

To make things even worse, they are now in a position where there is little differentiation between consumers and enterprise, and BlackBerry tries to carve out a niche? Prosumers, Consumers, Developers, Enterprise, constant noise about who they will cater to, but not appeasing to any of them. Is BlackBerry deaf? or is Chen trying to eliminate hardware but in a way that allows itself to. He's stubborn, why doesn't Chen realize that the world is different now, you can cater to all, marketing to niches by telling them what they want doesn't work so well. Offer choice with hardware and software that allows you to do all not limit choice thinking you know better than your user, which BlackBerry continues to do, all the while alienating further 'users' by taking away features and then adding them, and then ...... the list goes on. Chen further alienates it's users, by coming late to market with new features, pricing them at outrageous levels relative to where app industry pricing is. I mean BBM charging $1-2 for stickers that are a pain to use compared to other platforms, and then saying that they're enterprise focused and not here for consumers! C'mon people when will we stop supporting this company so they can make meaningful change.

BlackBerry is the kid who was bullied, but instead of getting up and fixing themselves by looking in the mirror and trying to make change and become transparent and adaptable, they merely smile and move further into abyss deluding others into enabling them to go down the same path. By encouraging this company that they have done no wrong and are doing no wrong and are merely victims, the company goes nowhere but into bankruptcy.

[crackberry_geek]

Before I begin, I will note that these are my thoughts and opinions only, if you're planning on attacking, please discontinue reading, this is not for you. I have been browsing these forums for some time and am a shareholder (long) for many years, but I've come to realize that the main people left with BlackBerry are the individuals who are deluded to think this company will survive or ever become anything like its glory days.

My main point however, is that John Chen is constantly touted as being some sort of saviour, however, all his actions have mostly caused harm to BlackBerry and its shareholders, as well as the company. All he's done is continue to alienate various stakeholders, which RIM constantly did (media, consumers, businesses) and now BBRY continues down this same path. John Chen is no hero, if you think about the number of items he's said he's been working on and how there are things in the pipeline, this is nothing but conjecture. John Chen does nothing but blow smoke, he may have a plan, but it's not working. He is not the man for the job, we aren't living in a world of tech like we were in his Sybase days. The world has changed, technology has changed, John Chen no longer understands change in the tech world. If we look back at the many 'events' that we have 'waited' for, they have all been half-assed, mediocre outcomes with Chen; resulting in nothing but a further falling share price and no better results for the company. His words continue to damage the company, when he speaks, especially with the media, even he seems like he doesn't believe in the company, his actions and comments further toll the company.

Now to my point, the reality check, so many BlackBerry fans (including myself) are deluded into thinking this company will be something, but the reality is that it won't and likely never will, it seems that complacency and a lack of transparency have returned as the modus operandi for this company. The delusionists mention IOT, QNX, ..... the list goes on, but how much has actually happened, other companies, are jumping and taking advantage of these markets and John Chen, "... it's coming, watch I have a surprise", and when announced, "so we are full speed ahead on the IOT front, and QNX is doing wonderful, we're in millions of cars" not mentioning that those millions of those cars bring in no revenue, and cannot be monetized. In the meantime other companies are aggressively pursuing their ideas through full transparency, open source projects, and implementation at relatively high speeds. For those who will say larger companies have more resources, in many ways this may have some affect, however if anything BlackBerry is a company that should be smaller, thus more adaptable and a faster moving company in being first to market.

I could go on; but what I came here to say, is, Let's stop making excuses for BlackBerry otherwise they have no reason to change and will fail and fall by the wayside and you can count my words on this!

Spot on!

1000 times over!

SPOT ON!!!!!

Posted via CB10

[notafanofyou]

Another FUD thread IMO. This wave of FUD usually happens during quiet period. I'm loving the FUD and the drop in SP. Starting to take advantage of shorts by selling and buying back even more shares. Anyways cheers to all the BlackBerry Can't do anything right crowd who spend hours , days, weeks, months and years just to warn us all that BlackBerry can't do anything right. Thanks for your dedication. Say hi to the guys at NSA. Ooops sorry just tin foil hat talk. Iraq has WMD....they wouldn't lie.

Posted via CB10

[RyanGermann]

Complaining about Chen without offering alternatives seems kind of pointless... If what you want is only people who agree with you to read your post and comment and everyone else to "stop reading now"... are you aware that you posted this on the Internet, not in your private My Little Pony journal you hide under your mattress? There's the "best laid plans"... Then there's angry impulsive rant posts. Sigh.

[jchemma]

But they are fixing things. Chen realizes that making phones and competing with samsung and apple products isn't profitable. And he's right. Just take a look at the numbers. He's trying to develop Blackberry into a security company that uses smart phones as part of the solution. In this way it doesn't matter how many phones they sell but how much revenue they can get from their software. What I think they should do next is to decrease their supply and increase the margin on their phones. That way they can actually make some money on them. But I'm sure Chen knows what he is doing.

Posted via CB10

[Shanerredflag]

Complaining about Chen without offering alternatives seems kind of pointless... If what you want is only people who agree with you to read your post and comment and everyone else to "stop reading now"... are you aware that you posted this on the Internet, not in your private My Little Pony journal you hide under your mattress? There's the "best laid plans"... Then there's angry impulsive rant posts. Sigh.

Seems consistent with this OP...bunch of FUD but no supportive information of verifiable links/info.

Classically Posted.

[anon(8865116)]

I think he's doing just fine, maybe not as fast as my shares would hope but I'm very anxious to see what the future of this company looks like.

Reaching profitability and sustaining revenue is no easy feat. He could have just easily said screw handsets and 75% of the workforce but it really looks like he is going for a long term strategy. I think everyone is just disappointed it wasn't a quick turn around with the release of the classic and passport which I sympathize with.

[Prem WatsApp]

Chen is changing the focus of Blackberry. He really wants to go back to what made BlackBerry, government and business. Not good news for consumers, but BlackBerry was never created for consumers.

Which is where blackberry went wrong. They never thought that consumers would drive the smart phone market hence being late to the game.

Had BB10 come out in 2010 or earlier, things would be different.

Via my Z30 on the Telus network

Chenge:
back to the roots! :-)



�   HaPPy Queen's Birthday weekend...   �

[world traveler and former ceo]

OP if you don't believe in Chen or Blackberry's prospects.. cut your losses and sell your shares...

If you are an experienced CEO who has managed a multi billion dollar tech company, we appreciate hearing what you would have done differently...

Listening......

Posted via CB10

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I think the frustrations that the OP expressed... are correct when it comes to BlackBerry the smartphone company.

He just has missed the point that maybe Chen can stabilize BlackBerry as a non-smartphone company. Something that a few years ago was unthinkable.

I think BlackBerry and BBRY will be OK (as long as your aren't still counting on that $100 party). But I think that fans of the smartphone will be disappointed with the future.

[ljfong]

As far as CB is concerned, I think the community (at least the majority) has stopped making excuses for BlackBerry for some time, even the most ardent supporters.

[notafanofyou]

Thank you BlackBerry can't do anything right crowd. I now use you to make money. I go on a few sites and gage the strength of the FUD attacks to determine if I should sell my BBRY and buy back at a lower price with more shares. Today is a good example of the extra FUD I noticed
Today allowing me to sell. Keep the FUD going.

Posted via CB10

[crackberry_geek]

Thank you BlackBerry can't do anything right crowd. I now use you to make money. I go on a few sites and gage the strength of the FUD attacks to determine if I should sell my BBRY and buy back at a lower price with more shares. Today is a good example of the extra FUD I noticed
Today allowing me to sell. Keep the FUD going.

Posted via CB10

Sure hope no one is taking stock tips from this misguided notion.

Posted via CB10

[THBW]

Another FUD thread IMO. This wave of FUD usually happens during quiet period. I'm loving the FUD and the drop in SP. Starting to take advantage of shorts by selling and buying back even more shares. Anyways cheers to all the BlackBerry Can't do anything right crowd who spend hours , days, weeks, months and years just to warn us all that BlackBerry can't do anything right. Thanks for your dedication. Say hi to the guys at NSA. Ooops sorry just tin foil hat talk. Iraq has WMD....they wouldn't lie.

Posted via CB10

Yes, it's fascinating that the "BlackBerry can do no wrong crowd" has to wait well into their quiet period to raise their heads these days. I guess things are getting hard. BlackBerry has strategy and they just need to stick with it. The Software offerings are growing in adoption rate. Once the cash flow increases, there will be a more aggressive move into hardware. One step at a time and slowly rebuild the brand.

Posted via CB10

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Yes, it's fascinating that the "BlackBerry can do no wrong crowd" has to wait well into their quiet period to raise their heads these days. I guess things are getting hard. BlackBerry has strategy and they just need to stick with it. The Software offerings are growing in adoption rate. Once the cash flow increases, there will be a more aggressive move into hardware. One step at a time and slowly rebuild the brand.

Posted via CB10

You meant the "do no right", right....

Have a source for adoption rates?

I really don't know what is going to happen at this years investor meeting. Most "news" sources seem to indicate that neither BES or Hardware are doing very well - but I have seen a marketshare indicator that saw rises in a few markets (even western ones). So maybe, just maybe enterprise is making the "switch" from BES5 and BBOS.

Personally I think Chen is a smart business man... don't think he has a clue about the smartphone business. But business is business and turning a profit and building for the future are what a good business man does.

[Shlooky]

The only way I see BBRY succeeding is in the software/security market. Make the software available to coporations to better secure the BYOD initiatives.

Retire the handset business!

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

The only way I see BBRY succeeding is in the software/security market. Make the software available to coporations to better secure the BYOD initiatives.

Retire the handset business!

They have had the software available to corporations for a while.... But I think right now many still view BES & BlackBerries as a package deal. To be honest, I don't know how well BES12 works with Android or iOS.... is it better? is it cheaper?

And the big question is... do they even need it? I know a number of companies that were at one time BES installations (most were BESX)... they have found that there are a number of solutions out there for basic device management. Many of which are include with email hosting for a business, so they can "kill two birds with one stone" as it were. No companies that are serious about security are not going to go that route... but it isn't looking like the numbers are in BlackBerry's favor.

Marketing might be a waste for BlackBerry hardware at this point. But maybe BlackBerry needs to do more when it comes to marketing BES12....

[pyBerry]

It occurs to me also that one the biggest criticisms I read about BlackBerry is the so called rubbish sales of the Passport. I think the BlackBerry Passport did a lot more for BlackBerry than merely sell a few thousand phones. It is indisputably the most unique phone out there and every BlackBerry Passport user is effectively a walking billboard.

Posted via CB10 from BlackBerry Passport

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

It occurs to me also that one the biggest criticisms I read about BlackBerry is the so called rubbish sales of the Passport. I think the BlackBerry Passport did a lot more for BlackBerry than merely sell a few thousand phones. It is indisputably the most unique phone out there and every BlackBerry Passport user is effectively a walking billboard.

Posted via CB10 from BlackBerry Passport

So what does being a unique phone and making the users a spectacle.... get the company?

[dalinxz]

So what does being a unique phone and making the users a spectacle.... get the company?

And therein lies the problem, how do things like giving exclusives to various carriers with certain designs (passport), or certain colours help the company at all. The carriers clearly aren't as keen on marketing BlackBerry, why does BlackBerry think somehow this will help them. This is a company that doesn't have the luxury of limiting choices to consumers, they'll go elsewhere. Chen is no genius, just an old dinosaur, like the company.



Posted via CB10

[Shanerredflag]

Seriously....you had to post FUD....couldn't look up the answer ??

Classically Posted.

[Shanerredflag]

This is fun eh....

Classically Posted.

[Superfly_FR]

Everybody is a bit nervous - for obviously opposed reasons - a few days ahead of E.R, especially in the "quiet period". The reality is that we currently have no factual clue of how the transition - as explained by J.C, not "dreamed" by "anlaysts" or "armchair C.E.Os" - is going.
There's only one certainty : it will take time before trumpets, wistle and bells - if ever - sounds loud and clear in the crowd perception. I may be tempted to state that it's the main task they have to achieve once break even (finance wise) is reached.

I'm somehow encouraged by posts like these (not claiming FUD on you OP though), because they keep asking "faster, stronger, better, harder" measures which implies, somehow, that the current strategy has flexibility; wiping away the old sentiment "BBRY is a falling knife".
Because all these "genius" strategies (I call them "magic wounds") imply such a pile of investments and goals shifts, there must be somehow an underlying sentiment here : "why on earth don't they use their $3Bil cash to do [whatever] ...". Let me finish the sentence : "... now they can afford it". Otherwise, that's plain utopia, fantasy, ignorance or whatever you want to call it and yes, in this particular context, you can add FUD at last.

There's a limit to the exercise John Chen and #TeamBlackBerry is trying to achieve here. They ave to be extremely focused on what has been planned and that's only a time for (formerly validated) action. Time to deliver what the plan has settled, like the plan settled it, within the time frame set for the passing points. There's simply neither time nor resources nor will to look back : calling into question is not an option. Fails will simply be cut, afterwards. That's how it is, as stubborn it may seem: the only way to conduct efficient change management. Especially when executed as an emergency as the enterprise is fighting to survive (V.S strategic planned turnover). You may wonder why we ear so few from the board regarding strategy: I'd bet they're better in the shadow when every word can be turned into interpretation and mixed to feed the rumors. No time and nothing to win here: just focus, shut up and deliver.

So, what does it mean for us, the "fans" ?
It means we have to consider BlackBerry as a long-term illness patient that is slowly recovering while he was depreciating before the shock treatment was ordered. He probably suffers of side-effects and the everyday life at his bedside implies dedication and patience. Making brilliant plans for the future can help, but that's only an escape. Escape is good, even mandatory for sanity and forward perspectives. Still it cannot heal anything alone. Treatment must be followed in its entirety, even when first bump of recovery appear. Otherwise, it's simply inefficient and the pain implied only added more sufferings to the situation. And - yes - there will be additional treatments afterwards to offset some of the remaining side-effects. Afterwards.

So, what does it mean for me, the "stakeholder" ?
Above all, there's no surprise for me. When I bought my first tiny lot of BBRY shares (end of 2011), I knew :
1/ It was a (very) long term investment
2/ The risk/reward ratio was only slightly in favor of reward. But that reward could be huge (multiples).
3/ I wouldn't bet my future on this and only invested available spare cash.
4/ I put my money where my words are. I was (and I am still) confident for the company future.
My investment was so long sighted (my daughter's 18 : still 2.5 years to go) it probably won't fit with any time scale used by traders. Even when I could have made subsequent profits, I played the "continuing bet", adding by small blocks until I reached the limit I fixed regarding my investment capabilities (1K shares). And here I am, fortunately helped with €/$ parity, sitting on my average price. Waiting for the fat lady.

In business there can be chance (more likely a fortunate "vision") but I've never seen a successful magic wound.
It takes time. And whoever tells you "yeah, you/he said that last quarter already", you're free to simply answer "yup: so did you".

From my thoughts direct to the keyboard, Ambassador and Elite hats off, for what it worth and to whom it may concern.
SF.

Disclosure : I'm long BBRY.