[tack]

I cannot believe the question has to be asked. BB had 50% plus market share less than 5 years ago and less than 2% today. Dark days? Hell yes, and they did not just start!

I do believe that a turn around CEO is not the right long term CEO. Chen has proven he can cut costs, but backing up to a "classic" phone to me showed he is not the strategic leader BB needs. Yes, I am playing armchair CEO with that comment, but it is based on my experience.

BB needs to offer a compelling reason for what people want or did not know they wanted. I don't know what that is anymore, but yelling security is not going to work. You want to cling to what you view as the best thing you do, or do you want to succeed in the market, even if they don't want what you view as best? That is the question BB needs to ask. Obviously security is not a market driver anymore for them. They do not have to abandon it, but don't cling to it. Stop selling BB's as "professional" or superior communication devices or at least sell it better. The only people buying those argument are current BB users, many of which want to feel superior. Maybe marketing is a partial answer, but it cannot be based on vaporware.

In my opinion BB has had great vision for the PB and BB10, but the implementation was poor at best. My experience with both caused me to leave for good because it was like the previous 4-5 years, poor quality of implementation and chasing up to date features others have optimized. Did it have a few neat or superior features with it, sure. Was that enough to keep most users, no. "I got this cool hub, peak and flow on my device, but the battery lasts 4 hours and it reboots a lot." That does not cut it. These things may be fixed now, and 10.3 may look great. It is too little too late.

I agree they need a high end device. I also agree they should probably build on Android and build in great security. Sell your strengths but sell it on an mainstream solution. Going for the low end? Are you kidding me? Let's sell cheap devices for little profit? I don't think that works either. Android is pretty much free. Cheap hardware from Foxconn can be had by all. Where is the differentiation in that strategy? Capturing the developing market and holding it are two different things. What will keep people coming back? Smart phone users a fickle, and that plays both against and for BB if they can implement things that will hold attention to their products. Cheap phones don't hold people's attention. It gets you sales numbers for the moment.

[adarred]

For all those who say John Chen hasn't done anything since coming on board I'd say they're wrong.

John Chen has been working behind the scenes to find investors for BlackBerry. On top of this he's been busy finalizing plans with Foxconn, finishing up the corporate reorganization including hiring talented people for senior positions and eliminating unnecessary positions. He's been speaking to the media, which seems to love him.

How about project Ion? And the investment in Nant? Or the recent partnership with Enstream? How about eBBM?

Just because a CEO isn't bringing out cutting edge phones every 6 months, it doesn't mean he's doing nothing to right the ship.

Posted via CB10

[Bbnivende]

Marsup...etc

Congratulations. You are one if the few that understand how important emerging markets are to BlackBerry. Secondly, that these markets may have their own app ecosystem.

Posted via CB10