[RPM_KW]

As he has not done his job of turning around the company, or at least in the direction most think he was supposed to turn it, do you think there is a good chance of him stepping down come Friday?

Posted via CB10

[Bla1ze]

As he has not done his job of turning around the company, or at least in the direction most think he was supposed to turn it, do you think there is a good chance of him stepping down come Friday?

Posted via CB10

Who says he hasn't done his job? Seems to me he has done his job rather well, most people fans just don't like what BlackBerry has become.

[app_Developer]

What do you mean by the direction most people wanted? The people that set direction are the board, representing the shareholders. As long as Chen is moving in the direction they want (and I believe he is) then why should he step down?

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I don't think the Board or the major investors can fault anything Chen has done.

From almost day one the end of BlackBerry hardware has been on the table, and a move to a more Sybase type company. The problem with Chen's initial turnaround plan is that most everyone taught that BBM/Channels would do much better than it did. Most everyone taught that BES was going to be more crossplatform accepted than it was. Most everyone taught that eventually some IoT product would start making money. What no one expected was that Chen was going to have to go out and buy other companies in order to turn BlackBerry into a software/services and IP company.

But yeah for CrackBerry fans.... Chen really has done nothing - which is about what many of us expected. Because it was all over for BlackBerry hardware back in the spring of 2013.

[RPM_KW]

OK let me rephrase.

The direction that most consumers thought that it was supposed to go.

He may be turning the company around to a enterprise centric company, but without any thing to really show for it, it is all just ideas right now. I would think the board wouldn't be happy that he has these ideas, but isn't pulling in any $ yet.

Posted via CB10

[Apple Aya]

He did and continues to do what a fanboy executive wouldn't. Sometimes you need that coldblooded outsider perspective.

[Ment]

Crackberry wouldn't have hired him in the first place because he was hired to cut costs that were anchor on the bottom-line (hardware) and transition the company to a software services company so on that basis he'll be sticking around.

[blackberrybrad]

OK let me rephrase.

The direction that most consumers thought that it was supposed to go.

He may be turning the company around to a enterprise centric company, but without any thing to really show for it, it is all just ideas right now. I would think the board wouldn't be happy that he has these ideas, but isn't pulling in any $ yet.

Posted via CB10

Really? No signs of showing it? The inorganic and organic software growth isn't proof enough.

Posted via CB10

[eshropshire]

Chen was not hired to save BB10, he was hired to save BlackBerry. The phone business was put in a death spiral by the former co CEOSs lack of vision and Thor just finished it off.

The fact that BlackBerry still exists in 2016 is remarkable. The Smartphone market competition was over in 2011. Even MS with its billions is losing the little market share.

[anon(9607753)]

His strategy seems to be working fairly well so far...acquire software/security companies on the back of the ever shrinking cash pile / BB7 device pool revenue stream and cut what is necessary to keep BB10 and Priv at the break even point. If hardware doesn't make a profit he cuts it loose by selling the division and the patents. BlackBerry ends up with a nice cash pile and a profitable but much smaller software business. Share values jump, out with the golden parachute and into early retirement.

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[thurask]

OK let me rephrase.

The direction that most consumers thought that it was supposed to go.

He may be turning the company around to a enterprise centric company, but without any thing to really show for it, it is all just ideas right now. I would think the board wouldn't be happy that he has these ideas, but isn't pulling in any $ yet.

Posted via CB10

The direction most consumers thought it would go is bankruptcy, so I think he's defied those expectations.

[RPM_KW]

Really? No signs of showing it? The inorganic and organic software growth isn't proof enough.

Posted via CB10

I guess we find out Friday, but I just don't see them pulling in a lot of revenue.

Sure, I can take some money, come up with a great idea, spend a bunch of money to implement it. But the bottom line is, if more money isn't coming in then going out, I'm burning through my cash.

Is the money actually coming in? Or is JC just burning threw the little remaining cash with these recent purchases. And if so, when are investors, and the board going to see these recent purchases pay off?

Posted via CB10

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

The direction most consumers thought it would go is bankruptcy, so I think he's defied those expectations.

They were losing billions back before Chen came in.....sometimes in just a single quarter. Chen has managed to cut cost and keep BlackBerry pretty close to the "surface", maybe a couple quarters just under and a few just above. But no where near the point that they have had to ask Fairfax for more money.

[CivilDissident]

Posted via CB10

[nickelodeon008]

I think John has done almost everything he said he would. I hope that these acquisitions help drive revenue to a point where we can refocus some money on hardware and marketing. I really hope that hardware survives because I don't want to go anywhere else. We need one strong device and a better perception to get back in the game. What we need is to try to get back to a respectable % of the market like 5; I am conceding that we probably won't be the market leader again.

[PantherBlitz]

What? ... and lose his Twitter followers?

[MarksBusiness]

While I think Chen did a good job in fixing and reorganizing the company, I also have to say that I'm disappointed about what he did with OS10 and Device unit. Right, BB was in a critical situation, but I'll always think that he could have done a lot more to better market BB10 phones.

So, up to a certain point seems legit to me the initial question posted by RPM_KV. Sure enough if he continues to fail with smartphone strategy, BB will have to shut down the smartphone unit and I don't think the board will be that happy.

[bakron1]

I feel the same as most of the folks who have replied to this thread. Chen has done what he was paid to do and that was save Blackberry as a company.

The issues with OS10, market share and Blackberry loosing it's once iconic brand presence was started long ago and we are just now seeing the end result of the founding fathers lack of vision and complacency.

Now it's a wait and see game that will be largely based on the corporate quarterly results. Should be interesting.

[kirson]

If memory serves, Fairfax had a plan to take the company private at $9 per share. They were unable to pull it off. Option two was to infuse a Billion Dollars in the form of convertible debt into the company, and replace the CEO with John Chen with one singular mission: drive the stock price as close as possible to the point where Fairfax is no longer under water. That is the only real measure of success or failure for John Chen. Others might enjoy a few more Blackberry phones, or perhaps some trading profits from trading the BBRY stock. But given the horrifying declines in the stock price before Chen came on board, there really were not that many other measures for success. Yes, it's true that Chen avoided bankruptcy. He hacked away at the cost structure so far that he was even able to eke out a quarter or two of positive cash flows. But other than little glimpses of little successes this has been a monumental failure unfolding in VERY slow motion. Blackberry may survive, or it may die. Blackberry phones may be around, or not. But I think it is very difficult to consider John Chen anything other than a failure at the mission both he and his Board of Directors set for him.

[Prem WatsApp]

While I think Chen did a good job in fixing and reorganizing the company, I also have to say that I'm disappointed about what he did with OS10 and Device unit. Right, BB was in a critical situation, but I'll always think that he could have done a lot more to better market BB10 phones.
....

YEAH, they should have tried those TV commercials (channels) where they sell vacuums, blenders and other miraculous household stuffs...

Show off the Passport the same way. I guess it would have been worth a try, lol...

:-D

�   There's a Crack in the Berry right now...   �

[anon(9607753)]

Here is an idea. An anti-trust lawsuit against Google to force full Android compatibility on BB10. But no, that wouldn't be the Canadian way eh?

Posted via CB10

[MarksBusiness]

YEAH, they should have tried those TV commercials (channels) where they sell vacuums, blenders and other miraculous household stuffs...

Show off the Passport the same way. I guess it would have been worth a try, lol...

:-D

•   There's a Crack in the Berry right now...   •

Indeed BB10 it is a miraculous OS. None of the other would be as efficient with the same specs of BB smartphones.

Personally I would have met with major app company's CEOs and shoved down them throat each single cent (one by one) of BB liquidity to force them to develop their apps for BB10.
Sort of "I'll make you an offer you can't refuse".

[Chuck Finley69]

If memory serves, Fairfax had a plan to take the company private at $9 per share. They were unable to pull it off. Option two was to infuse a Billion Dollars in the form of convertible debt into the company, and replace the CEO with John Chen with one singular mission: drive the stock price as close as possible to the point where Fairfax is no longer under water. That is the only real measure of success or failure for John Chen. Others might enjoy a few more Blackberry phones, or perhaps some trading profits from trading the BBRY stock. But given the horrifying declines in the stock price before Chen came on board, there really were not that many other measures for success. Yes, it's true that Chen avoided bankruptcy. He hacked away at the cost structure so far that he was even able to eke out a quarter or two of positive cash flows. But other than little glimpses of little successes this has been a monumental failure unfolding in VERY slow motion. Blackberry may survive, or it may die. Blackberry phones may be around, or not. But I think it is very difficult to consider John Chen anything other than a failure at the mission both he and his Board of Directors set for him.

Completely wrong on last sentence. If he were a failure the Board would fire him already. What he's accomplished, is nothing short of incredible given BlackBerry's impending bankruptcy at time. It looks easy in hindsight, but many CEO's would have used bankruptcy as part of strategy to maximize positive cash flow while delaying creditors. There have been many opportunities like this where Fairfax and Chen would have been able to grab the easy single or double and win the game. Team BlackBerry would still be a loser but Fairfax, Prem and Chen would be free and clear with profit to show for it. They didn't hire Chen to breakeven at 9 or sell at 12-15. If price drops too much, they'll gladly take company private. Just look at history of Sybase and how many years it took Chen there. Ask the former Good shareholders how stupid or goofy Chen is...

Posted via CB10

[thurask]

They were losing billions back before Chen came in.....sometimes in just a single quarter. Chen has managed to cut cost and keep BlackBerry pretty close to the "surface", maybe a couple quarters just under and a few just above. But no where near the point that they have had to ask Fairfax for more money.

Which is obvious grounds for failure.

[donnation]

The chances of him stepping down are as likely as the board making Kevin M the new CEO.