1. anon(8865116)'s Avatar
    JC is quoted as saying "we're taking steps to make the hardware business profitable.". Any ideas?
    lol, laying off tat and not replacing it with anything else. I'm hoping they can release a bb10 and android device in parallel but a lot of forum members have already said that they can't because of google's requirements.
    06-23-15 12:20 PM
  2. sentimentGX4's Avatar
    Is anyone else shocked he didn't address the Android device story? Where is BB's official response on this?

    Posted via CB10
    Surprised Chen didn't address the story as well considering it was featured on Reuters.

    Either BBRY forgot since it's been a couple of days or don't care because it had no impact on share price or BBRY doesn't want to draw attention to it.
    06-23-15 12:21 PM
  3. early2bed's Avatar
    Is anyone else shocked he didn't address the Android device story? Where is BB's official response on this?
    This only makes sense if he has an Android device coming. If the Android stories are BS and he is all BB10 going forward then he certainly would have said something given that practically every article about BlackBerry over the past week has mentioned Android and the developers could use some clarity. However, he said nothing.
    app_Developer likes this.
    06-23-15 12:25 PM
  4. paul360's Avatar
    JC is quoted as saying "we're taking steps to make the hardware business profitable.". Any ideas?
    By signing joint device development deals with Wistron and Compal "to reduce the time to market of new devices, streamline the supply chain, leverage greater economies of scale and enable resource and fixed asset reductions for greater business efficiency, which are all significant steps toward BlackBerry achieving profitability in its devices business".
    pantlesspenguin and DJM626 like this.
    06-23-15 12:26 PM
  5. Bonsaibo's Avatar
    By signing joint device development deals with Wistron and Compal "to reduce the time to market of new devices, streamline the supply chain, leverage greater economies of scale and enable resource and fixed asset reductions for greater business efficiency, which are all significant steps toward BlackBerry achieving profitability in its devices business".
    Excellent catch. I read this and stupidly didn't tie things together. This could be a decent sign of new things to come. Just gotta wait is all.
    06-23-15 12:28 PM
  6. Soulstream's Avatar
    It seems pretty clear to me that BB will become a software company and that the hardware business will die a slow death.
    06-23-15 12:30 PM
  7. keithhackneysmullet's Avatar
    No they have released none. Z10 was not, would have been if released in early 2012, and Z30 was not either. They have never released a high end all touch phone.

    Posted via Z30
    Compare the z10 to the iPhone 5 which is the phone rim bench marked for the bb10 phones. The z10 had competive specs when it was released. So did the z30.


    BlackBerry Results Discussion Q1 2016: March-May '15-img_20150623_133605.png


    Attachment 359136
    mmmac and donnation like this.
    06-23-15 12:36 PM
  8. anon(8865116)'s Avatar
    Surprised Chen didn't address the story as well considering it was featured on Reuters.

    Either BBRY forgot since it's been a couple of days or don't care because it had no impact on share price or BBRY doesn't want to draw attention to it.
    I think it's cnbc but the reporter asked him directly about it to which he replied:

    "If we can find a way to make android secure, we will do it" To me, that sounds like legalese for, "yeah, we're working on it".
    06-23-15 12:39 PM
  9. lnichols's Avatar
    For Blackberry they were high end at the time, and flagship devices. Do you think that if the Z10 had a better camera and processor it would have sold better? I don't. These devices were DOA at the time of their release. Same with the Z30, which is a nice phone but had no marketing behind it to help it take off with consumers.

    It wouldn't matter if BB released a high end super-phone at this point. People aren't going to buy it.
    No I think had the Z30 launched when the Z10 did it would have sold more. The Z10 launched with a small screen, horrible battery, no ecosystem at a premium price, and the GS4 launched a few months later and totally changed the markets expectations for a phone. Z30 would have had a chance, even with a 720 screen, but Z10 had no chance.

    Posted via Z30
    Akuji_ism and techvisor like this.
    06-23-15 12:39 PM
  10. kirson's Avatar
    Unfortunately, when you parse through the bits and pieces, there was not a lot of good news coming out of today's announcements. Revenues continued their decline. Hardware was down to 1.1 million devices. Services (which are the old BBOS fees) continue to decline at over 15% every quarter, and Chen said he expected that rate of decline to continue. And the only ray of light - 150% growth in software and licensing - is actually not that clear. The actual SOFTWARE part of that number has only grown at 24% (not bad, but nowhere close to the rate needed), so, call it $67 million or so. The other $70 million came from IP licensing agreements. And while they refused to provide the breakout of one-time versus recurring licensing revenues, it is fair to assume that a healthy portion of that number was one time in nature. The real bad news, at least in my view, is that while BBRY might actually achieve $500 million in software and licensing in 2016, as much as half of that number may very well be one time sales of licensing rights. And Chen kind of laughed off the entire BBM question - he chuckled and said, yes, I really need to start doing something about that (or words to that effect).
    06-23-15 12:55 PM
  11. Pcmx's Avatar
    Your friends must all be older. Most people prefer typing on a touchscreen device.
    A younger adult blew me away with how fast she can type; with an iPhone 5 which seems narrow enough to me now, on broken glass, inputting text probably quicker than I could even speak the words into mine. Even if I like a pkb device, It's too bad BlackBerry couldn't see the anticipated market with the all touch devices as I believe BB10 is quite optimized to that regard.
    06-23-15 01:00 PM
  12. paul360's Avatar
    It seems pretty clear to me that BB will become a software company and that the hardware business will die a slow death.
    They just signed agreements with two major device manufacturers to bolster their hardware division, so in the near future it won't be going anywhere. We can just assume that certain departments are going to be dissolved and transferred to the manufacturing partners to increase efficiency. With the extremely low number of devices BlackBerry is currently selling, you cannot assume that the company will keep running its huge back-end structure that was originally designed to support way more device types and double to ten times as many number of devices/year.

    EDIT: The long-term vision of the company is for it to be THE service provider for security and encryption, so it is safe to assume that devices will only play a very small role in that. Nevertheless, Chen won't kill of hardware as long as there are certain integrative advantages of the division he can use to improve the company's overall standing.
    06-23-15 01:01 PM
  13. passport1's Avatar
    Your friends must all be older. Most people prefer typing on a touchscreen device.
    There is a difference between typing for social media updates , versus typing for serious business usage.
    Most would prefer using a physical keyboard in such cases.


    As many had mentioned in the forum, Chen doesn't understand consumers are the enterprise users.

    IMO Blackberry needs to create a device that is a piece of art. Not bulky industrial phones. Hard core games app enthusiasts may not switch, but would be able to sway others.

    Smartphone ecosystem matures very quick and the current leaders may not stay on top for too long, when new phone vendors create attractive and innovative designs.




    Posted via CB10
    06-23-15 01:02 PM
  14. Witmen's Avatar
    I'm surprised they sold as many devices as they did. Of course 1.1 million is a terrible number, but I honestly expected this to be the first quarter that they dropped back down to less than a million.

    Sad to say it, but I don't think the hardware division will recover. Especially not with Chen taking money from it to further turn BlackBerry into a software and services only business.
    sonicpix and bp2k7 like this.
    06-23-15 01:03 PM
  15. kvndoom's Avatar
    All I care about are the keyboard and the hub. If hardware goes away, so does the keyboard. It's not dead. Every iphone and android user I know absolutely hates typing on a touch screen but they are so wrapped up by apps that they'll give up good typing for everything else. I swear I'm going to start buying up q10's, classics, etc. so I never have to type on glass in my life.

    Chen just doesn't understand that there is no difference between enterprise and cnsumer users. Every enterprise employee is still a consumer after work. If BYOD is here to stay, BlackBerry better get their heads out of the sand and realize they are wrongly separating the two markets.
    I wouldn't mind them making something like the Typo but with BlackBerry branding and quality. I agree with you that typing on a screen is a horrid experience.

    Posted from BlackBerry Classic, Verizon, no camera, 10.3.2.840
    06-23-15 01:06 PM
  16. Blacklatino's Avatar
    At the time of their release they were flagship devices priced in line with other high end phones. They may have had mid-range specs but they were still BB'S high end phones.
    Which, on top of all else, has been BlackBerries' Achilles heal.
    06-23-15 01:13 PM
  17. Bonsaibo's Avatar
    They just signed agreements with two major device manufacturers to bolster their hardware division, so in the near future it won't be going anywhere. We can just assume that certain departments are going to be dissolved and transferred to the manufacturing partners to increase efficiency. With the extremely low number of devices BlackBerry is currently selling, you cannot assume that the company will keep running its huge back-end structure that was originally designed to support way more device types and double to ten times as many number of devices/year.

    EDIT: The long-term vision of the company is for it to be THE service provider for security and encryption, so it is safe to assume that devices will only play a very small role in that. Nevertheless, Chen won't kill of hardware as long as there are certain integrative advantages of the division he can use to improve the company's overall standing.
    Good points. I think the outsourcing of the hardware business will continue, thereby reducing these fixed costs internally and making them more variable in nature in line with demand for product. This would allow BlackBerry handsets to continue, albeit in what form none of us know.
    06-23-15 01:23 PM
  18. donnation's Avatar
    There is a difference between typing for social media updates , versus typing for serious business usage.
    Most would prefer using a physical keyboard in such cases.


    As many had mentioned in the forum, Chen doesn't understand consumers are the enterprise users.

    IMO Blackberry needs to create a device that is a piece of art. Not bulky industrial phones. Hard core games app enthusiasts may not switch, but would be able to sway others.

    Smartphone ecosystem matures very quick and the current leaders may not stay on top for too long, when new phone vendors create attractive and innovative designs.




    Posted via CB10
    Totally disagree. BB gave 4 pkb phones and no one bought them, and it's not just because of apps. It's because people prefer a vkb. Frankly you sound like a throwback from BB's glory days when the iPhone was released. "People prefer typing on a pkb." That just isn't the case anymore. Most people can type faster and more effectively on a touchscreen phone. I don't mind a pkb, but am a much faster and more accurate typer on a vkb.

    Just look around in here. The vast majority of people want a high end touchscreen phone. They don't want the Passport 2 or the Classic 2, they want a full touchscreen phone.
    Last edited by donnation; 06-23-15 at 09:59 PM.
    06-23-15 01:24 PM
  19. donnation's Avatar
    I do fine it funny that the sentiment in here towards Chen has changed so drastically. He's gone from being a hero that could do no wrong to a misguided inept CEO. When has that happened before......
    06-23-15 01:32 PM
  20. lnichols's Avatar
    Compare the z10 to the iPhone 5 which is the phone rim bench marked for the bb10 phones. The z10 had competive specs when it was released. So did the z30.


    Click image for larger version. 

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    Attachment 359136
    Apple has never competed on specs. It has always had the apps. Apple is also not reliant on Android apps, BlackBerry is. Even Apple had to go larger in screen size due to Android OEMs success with large screens having their own users asking for it. They aimed at Apple and they should have aimed at Google, especially since they need to run Android apps.

    Posted via Z30
    sentimentGX4 and jmr1015 like this.
    06-23-15 01:32 PM
  21. anon(19759)'s Avatar
    Your friends must all be older. Most people prefer typing on a touchscreen device.
    I think most people that prefer touch typing fall into one of two groups:

    People who's first (and every other) smartphone was a touchscreen and never used a physical keyboard.

    People who don't have to type much punctuation, numbers, special characters. I have to type this stuff all day, and there is not a touch keyboard that can do it half as fast as my Q10 keyboard. Sure, letters and words are fast but anything else becomes maddening on glass. Intricate passwords? Forget it. Specs of some piece of tech hardware? No thanks.

    Give me a contest of speed typing where I have to write a 5000-word manual on installing and configuring a Cisco router with their IOS and I will destroy a touch typer every time.
    DrBoomBotz and ArcPlug like this.
    06-23-15 01:35 PM
  22. GoJaysGo's Avatar
    Compare the z10 to the iPhone 5 which is the phone rim bench marked for the bb10 phones. The z10 had competive specs when it was released. So did the z30.


    Click image for larger version. 

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    Attachment 359136
    You can't compare GHz and say it's close. It's not even close, it's not even in the same ball park. It's like saying the 8MP on my camera phone is the same as my 8MP Nikon DSLR...

    The geekbench score for the Z10 is 697, the same test for the iPhone 5 is 1,272. The performance on the Apple processors are second to none, and comparing GHz, is simply not even an accurate comparison. Same as comparing the amount of memory, it's a useless comparison.

    So the Z10 did not have "competitive" specs...

    Geekbench:
    iPhone, iPad, and iPod Benchmarks - Geekbench Browser
    BlackBerry Benchmarks - Geekbench Browser
    06-23-15 01:39 PM
  23. Dunt Dunt Dunt's Avatar
    Compare the z10 to the iPhone 5 which is the phone rim bench marked for the bb10 phones. The z10 had competive specs when it was released. So did the z30.
    The iPhone was several months old, and doesn't really "compare" as Apple does a lot of customization to their hardware to get more out of it.

    I know when I was looking for a new phone at the time... the HTC One was what I was looking at both were the same price back a that time.

    BlackBerry Results Discussion Q1 2016: March-May '15-bb.jpg

    That is a Quad core processor vs the Z10 Dual Core plus the HTC One had a newer GPU. A friend got one and we compared them side by side.... Camera was better in low light, Speakers with 1000% better, larger screen, better build quality, FM Radio, Wi-Fi Direct and sadly the battery life was almost twice what I was getting back at that time.

    The Z10 was not a Flagship device..... Maybe a 3rd world county flagship, but not a ship of the line.
    Maxxxpower and techvisor like this.
    06-23-15 01:42 PM
  24. keithhackneysmullet's Avatar
    Apple has never competed on specs. It has always had the apps. Apple is also not reliant on Android apps, BlackBerry is. Even Apple had to go larger in screen size due to Android OEMs success with large screens having their own users asking for it. They aimed at Apple and they should have aimed at Google, especially since they need to run Android apps.

    Posted via Z30
    I agree once they put the android runtime on BlackBerry phones the benchmark changed to android. Now they have to play the specs game with other android oem's. I am just saying that the overall failure of bb10 has more to do with ecosystem than specs.

    Posted via CB10
    Maxxxpower and techvisor like this.
    06-23-15 01:43 PM
  25. keithhackneysmullet's Avatar
    You can't compare GHz and say it's close. It's not even close, it's not even in the same ball park. It's like saying the 8MP on my camera phone is the same as my 8MP Nikon DSLR...

    The geekbench score for the Z10 is 697, the same test for the iPhone 5 is 1,272. The performance on the Apple processors are second to none, and comparing GHz, is simply not even an accurate comparison. Same as comparing the amount of memory, it's a useless comparison.

    So the Z10 did not have "competitive" specs...

    Geekbench:
    iPhone, iPad, and iPod Benchmarks - Geekbench Browser
    BlackBerry Benchmarks - Geekbench Browser
    Your confusing specs with the ability to write software. Apple is heads and shoulders ahead of everyone at optimization.

    Posted via CB10
    techvisor likes this.
    06-23-15 01:45 PM
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