John Chen may be good for Blackberry but is he good for you?

Hello everyone. I'm new around these parts. I am just a regular guy who likes smartphones. I currently have an iPhone, and I have previously owned Android and Windows Phone devices. I have never owned a Blackberry device, however, in my opinion Blackberry makes really good BB10 devices and I'm rooting for the company do get back to its former glory. I think that if the company is going to turn things around, John Chen is the one to do it. He seems to have the personality, experience, and plan of action to pull off a turn around. Unfortunately, his plan is not very exciting to a mobile device enthusiast like myself. I don't know about you, but I'm interested in Blackberry because they make cool phones for the consumer market. I would not consider myself a fan of companies that sell software and services to IT departments. While Chen's plan is not completely clear, it appears to be focused on the enterprise market, and software and services in particular. To the extent Blackberry will still make handsets, they will be marketed to enterprise customers, not consumers. Presumably, Blackberry's research and development going forward will focus on enterprise features, not features for average consumers like me. Also, insofar as Blackberry intends to focus on the consumer market, it seems to be a focus on developing economies. That's cool for consumers in developing nations, but I want to see awesome flagship devices as the focus. I guess I would love John Chen and his plan if I owned BBRY shares, but not so much as a guy who likes to play with the latest and greatest smartphones. So what do you think? Is John Chen as good for you as he is for Blackberry (and its shareholders)?

He has to take a step back for a bit. That should be expected at this point, IMHO.

The Z10 (then the Q10 to some extent) was the major attempt to win USA over again. When that failed, they gave it yet another try with the cross-platform BBM paired with the hail Mary pass of the Z30. Unfortunately, an insignificant number of folks were interested.

I'm sorry you aren't excited. I'm not thrilled either. But if they released another awesome phone for US, it is too likely, at this point, to be yet another failure or even refusal to carry, as the Z30 was sans Verizon.

It's just the way it is. Back to the roots has to happen sometimes. But hope is not lost, no...I am sure there will be a way to purchase a flagship-type, cool device, likely from a Canadian source or direct from BBRY. And, maybe enterprise focus includes prosumer focus still!

Also, keep in mind, once they fully stabilize and return to profitability by returning to their roots and then some, THEN they can take a risk, release a cool new consumer-intended high-end phone and spend some actual dollars on proper advertising/marketing/carrier-backed promos in the US.

-STV on Z10STL100-3/10.2.1.2141 TMO US

I would have been worried about this... if this was 2008. It's clear by the fact that 'enterprise customers' have clawed their way out of work-only devices and into the laps of Apple/Android that there is to be no such thing as research and development "focus[ing] on enterprise features, not features for average consumers like [us]." Don't get me wrong, they have always (and will even more so) focus on features that would be advantageous to the enterprise user, but no device will be widely adopted that can't also satiate the 'average consumer' side of every enterprise user.

Having said that, it's plausible they will not find it feasible to continue making/designing their own hardware and try to just become a software as service company as a last ditch effort to survive.

As long as my wife stays employed, I'll like him!

Z10 on Telus

I hope BlackBerry survives to make phones for me, not just surviving

Originally Posted by aha

I hope BlackBerry survives to make phones for me, not just surviving

Perfectly stated. Thanks.


Sent from my iPhone using CB Forums mobile app

I think the frustrating part for me is that the BB10s are great phones. If the phones sucked I wouldn't care so much. And the alternatives to BlackBerry are not attractive to me. I have used IOS, we own Android devices and I would rather confine my Windows experience to my laptop only. BlackBerry fits my daily needs as a consumer perfectly. So, I hope Chen can find a way to make it happen.

Loving my Zed 10!!

The first BlackBerry device were geared toward business users and caught on with consumers.

BlackBerry focusing on making enterprise users more productive and offering a little sugar with games and other social apps either Native or Android based, will eventually win over more consumers.

At some point consumers will want to be as productive in their personal lives as they can be in their business lives.

Posted from my Z30 using CB10

Good post OP and I agree. I believe going back to their roots is the only way they survive. If consumers get a piece of the pie is yet to be seen and quite a ways off.

Posted via my Nexus 10.

Re-focusing on enterprise will give BlackBerry a better shot at differentiating themselves and hopefully re-capturing some of the market. Playing the "me too" game with iOS and Android hasn't proven successful for them. Enterprise was their trojan horse into the consumer market years ago. And while BYOD has changed that landscape somewhat, it's still their best chance at actually getting devices into the hands of people. The best way they can show off BlackBerry 10 is to have people use it.

Originally Posted by LoganSix

The first BlackBerry device were geared toward business users and caught on with consumers.

BlackBerry focusing on making enterprise users more productive and offering a little sugar with games and other social apps either Native or Android based, will eventually win over more consumers.

While there is truth there, it's also true that the market is MUCH different today, with FAR more competition, and with user expectations being far higher than when BB first became dominant. Just because that method worked before, under very different circumstances, doesn't mean it will work again. I believe it will get BB more customers than it has now, but I honestly don't know if it's going to get them ENOUGH customers to be viable in the consumer handset business.

As a handset maker, BlackBerry may become nothing more than a niche player, but as a provider of MDM services there is still a chance for them to make a big impact. While enterprise sales may not be sexy, or lead to all of the oohs and ahhs of the consumer market, it is where BlackBerry started and where it can still make a consistent revenue stream. Even in the BYOD world there's still the opportunity to sell BES licenses for Android and iOS devices.

Chen may not give the 'latest and greatest' crowd something to ogle, but he knows where the BlackBerry name still means something, and that's in the back office where all of the little things that keep organisations running are, even if they're invisible to the end user.

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by treaker

As long as my wife stays employed, I'll like him!

Z10 on Telus

I wouldn't base any mortgage decisions upon her continued employment with "the Company."

Posted via the BlackBerry Q5 using CB10.