[Troy Tiscareno]

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?

I hope it wouldn't be, since it would have zero chance of working. Hell, the odds are very high that the judge would laugh at them as he dismissed the case - with prejudice.

[BB Adict]

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

He is not answerable to the consumers. Enough said!!!

Posted via CB10

[JeepBB]

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

I'm sure Kevin could do with another haircut. He could ask John to do it as his last act as CEO.

[JeepBB]

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.

I think what you've said might be Fairfax's plan for BB, but I reckon John Chen is better than that and has the best-interests of all BB shareholders in mind. Chen's plan is to turn BB into a software company and hopefully profit.

One other point, the $9/share price wasn't a serious offer. It was intended to set the floor for other bidders (of which I doubt there were any). Once that lack of interest had become clear, Prem pulled the $9 offer. It was never genuine.

[tufcustomer]

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".

They offered to develop the apps for some companies, and they still passed. Not sure what's left to offer after that.

Posted via CB10

[Doggerz]

I'm with you OP. I haven't liked his style since day one. Has nothing to do with my like or dislike of BB10. He came in and from the start it was clear he was trying to end BlackBerry as we knew it. That's fine. We'd all have been better off if TH had found a buyer then. Sometimes its just better to end something than to keep leading people on.

From his hissy fit with T-Mobile I knew he wasn't putting hardware and sales first. Then he goes off on some thing about equal rights for apps which had the whole tech community thinking he lost it. Then he builds the Priv, ignores how stupid the name is. Builds it with a keyboard nowhere near the quality of a 9900 that would lure people back who were serious about keyboards. I've wanted a BlackBerry slider for years to replace my Torch and just couldnt pull the trigger on Chen's monstrosity.

Then this whole thing with him acting as a mouthpiece for the FBI and Fox News and throwing the one thing BlackBerry was known for in the trash, securtiy. Privacy. That was the final straw. He meant to kill hardware. Even Android. The last thing he wants is for the Priv to do well.

Too bad BlackBerry didn't declare bankruptcy in 2013 and too bad the government didn't install a General Motors type bail out because GM is now turning a profit and turning out quality cars. Glad GM didn't install Chen to turn it into a software company.

So to all the people saying he's done a good job, they're right. He's done a good job at getting what he wanted from the start. Killing off this companies reputation. Sometimes dead is better. This is like a TV show that went on a few too many seasons.

If they weren't going to go full in with an advertising budget and a quality android phone at a reasonable price and really try to come back then they should have stopped leading people on years ago.

Chen is just horrible unless you are into BlackBerry for any reason other than what I liked them for since the start. The Priv could have turned BlackBerry around if it were managed right. It wasn't. Chen is a horrible CEO.

Z5 - E6853 / Android 6.0 / T-Mobile USA

[MarksBusiness]

They offered to develop the apps for some companies, and they still passed. Not sure what's left to offer after that.

Posted via CB10

Jokes apart, I am not an user focused on apps (right now I'm using a Q10 and I still love it a lot!), but I understand that most people need/want them and those apps developed by BB itself were not comparable to iOS/Android versions.
Here Chen failed completely, he should have tried to bring developers to BB10 at the very BEGINNING (even paying them certain sums if necessary) instead of concentraiting all the cash on acquisitions in damned IoT companies. Even Windows had a poor Store at first, but now it's getting better.

I'm not talking of games or useless apps, just those major apps that each person often use (Banking, FB, Instagram, Telegram, Dropbox, etc.), apps that make a potential customer opt for another phone. Look what they did with FB recently: an update that takes you to the web app, are you kidding me ? What about Skype ? I'm still laughing hard.
And after dismissing all the original OS10 team of developers, now has the courage of tweeting all those crappy hashtags (#ilovebb10apps or whatever): embarrassing ! He's making fun of his customers, that's what disappoint me most. He never intended to save OS10 and still try to deny that evidence.
Personally I still would have used my Q10 for a long time if Whatsapp didn't discotinue its support to OS10, but I'm leaving BB just for this reason (a shame considering how good OS10 is) and I guess a lot more will do the same. I do not consider the PRIV a valid option, at the moment it seems to me a "fiasco".

[blackberrybrad]

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

I don't think you understand financial statements. In many quarters BlackBerry has had positive free cash flow, but reported a loss under GAAP. In fact that positive free cash flow has been adding to their cash or near cash assets.

Posted via CB10

[kirson]

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

I respectfully disagree. Bankruptcy would have solved very little for Blackberry, and would have created almost no value for anyone. In bankruptcy, the equity is wiped out. Prem would have gone from losing 50 cents on the dollar to losing 100 cents on the dollar. Chen wouldn't have gained much either - a huge part of his comp came in the form of stock awards - he had to keep the company alive for a certain number of years in order to benefit from his massive incentive comp. By the way, the stock doesn't have to recover for him to make a fortune, it only has to stay flat (something it has just about done). The only benefit of a bankruptcy would have been to eliminate some of the contractual obligations they had with outside manufacturers, and to potentially erase their payables. While there is certainly value in those two, they come at a price of essentially never being able to sell another new product - hardware or software - to business or government customers. This is not a necessary result, but given the highly specialized service being offered, it is the most likely result in a bankruptcy. If Chen could sell Blackberry today at $9 a share or even a penny higher, he would take the offer. Heck, if someone had turned up at $9.01 per share the day he was hired, he would have taken that offer. The only reason he was hired was that nobody was willing to get to $9.01 - even the guys who said they would take the company private at $9.00 had to back out. If you ask the former employee equity holders of Good how stupid or goofy Chen is they would probably burst into tears and tell you what an abomination he is to the tech community, how evil he is, how unscrupulous he is, how greedy he is, and what a bottom feeding scum he is. But they come at this from a slightly different place.

[Elephant_Canyon]

Jokes apart, I am not an user focused on apps (right now I'm using a Q10 and I still love it a lot!), but I understand that most people need/want them and those apps developed by BB itself were not comparable to iOS/Android versions.
Here Chen failed completely, he should have tried to bring developers to BB10 at the very BEGINNING (even paying them certain sums if necessary)

He did do that. It didn't work.

[Denise in Los Angeles]

Jokes apart, I am not an user focused on apps (right now I'm using a Q10 and I still love it a lot!), but I understand that most people need/want them and those apps developed by BB itself were not comparable to iOS/Android versions.
Here Chen failed completely, he should have tried to bring developers to BB10 at the very BEGINNING (even paying them certain sums if necessary) instead of concentraiting all the cash on acquisitions in damned IoT companies. Even Windows had a poor Store at first, but now it's getting better.

I'm not talking of games or useless apps, just those major apps that each person often use (Banking, FB, Instagram, Telegram, Dropbox, etc.), apps that make a potential customer opt for another phone. Look what they did with FB recently: an update that takes you to the web app, are you kidding me ? What about Skype ? I'm still laughing hard.
And after dismissing all the original OS10 team of developers, now has the courage of tweeting all those crappy hashtags (#ilovebb10apps or whatever): embarrassing ! He's making fun of his customers, that's what disappoint me most. He never intended to save OS10 and still try to deny that evidence.
Personally I still would have used my Q10 for a long time if Whatsapp didn't discotinue its support to OS10, but I'm leaving BB just for this reason (a shame considering how good OS10 is) and I guess a lot more will do the same. I do not consider the PRIV a valid option, at the moment it seems to me a "fiasco".

Welcome to CrackBerry. Obviously, you were not here at the very beginning of BB10, otherwise you would know that Chen was not CEO at the time, so he was not responsible for the fiasco of that launch. BlackBerry did offer money to app developers at that time to bring the major apps to BB10. The major app developers showed ZERO interest!

And to reiterate what we have to repeat in every John Chen thread: HE WAS NOT BROUGHT IN TO SAVE BB10.

Have a good day.

[app_Developer]

Chen is not the CEO of the phone division of BlackBerry. He is certainly not the CEO of BB10.

He is the CEO of BlackBerry, Ltd. And as such, you can't measure him by any scale other than how is the company doing overall. At $8/shr obviously the jury is still out. Certainly, though, it seems really premature to say he's failed, right?

[Joao Oliveira]

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

he actually made the company profitable, from a state where it was bleeding money fast.

Blackberry fans are just buthurt because hardware is shrinking, but can you blame him? He tried BB10 with the passport, now is trying with android as a last hope. Can't blame him for not trying

[eshropshire]

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

Based on what, Google does not have a monopoly on the smartphone market.

[eshropshire]

Jokes apart, I am not an user focused on apps (right now I'm using a Q10 and I still love it a lot!), but I understand that most people need/want them and those apps developed by BB itself were not comparable to iOS/Android versions.
Here Chen failed completely, he should have tried to bring developers to BB10 at the very BEGINNING (even paying them certain sums if necessary) instead of concentraiting all the cash on acquisitions in damned IoT companies. Even Windows had a poor Store at first, but now it's getting better.

I'm not talking of games or useless apps, just those major apps that each person often use (Banking, FB, Instagram, Telegram, Dropbox, etc.), apps that make a potential customer opt for another phone. Look what they did with FB recently: an update that takes you to the web app, are you kidding me ? What about Skype ? I'm still laughing hard.
And after dismissing all the original OS10 team of developers, now has the courage of tweeting all those crappy hashtags (#ilovebb10apps or whatever): embarrassing ! He's making fun of his customers, that's what disappoint me most. He never intended to save OS10 and still try to deny that evidence.
Personally I still would have used my Q10 for a long time if Whatsapp didn't discotinue its support to OS10, but I'm leaving BB just for this reason (a shame considering how good OS10 is) and I guess a lot more will do the same. I do not consider the PRIV a valid option, at the moment it seems to me a "fiasco".

Chen was not brought in at the beginning. The Beginning for BB10 to have any chance of success had to be back in 2010 maybe 2011. By the end of 2013 it was game over. Coupled with being way too late, BB10 had a disastrous launch. Late, buggy, and badly handled. They launched BB10 with the same attitude as if they had the same market position as 2010. Then came a complete fiasco, Blackberry financials blew up, not only with loses but actually burning through tons of cash. The board gave up on the company and tried to sell the company and failed. Two months after this John Chen was brought in to try and salvage Blackberry. He was not brought in the save the phone business, he was brought in the try and save a company that was bleeding cash at a massive rate.

[xtremeled]

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

BB devices are a thing of the past. It'll be easier on you when you accept it and move on.

[BlackBerry_Pwner]

What direction would you take it in? Keep making phones that nobody is buying?

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Deckard79]

Chen has done a great job, even while BlackBerry's age-old problems continue to drag them down.

He understands that BB10 is dead as a platform, and that there is absolutely no scope to compete in the consumer hardware market.

I suspect that the 'Leap' and 'Priv', as underwhelming as they both are, were still the best they could come up with given their limited resources (while shifting their focus elsewhere).

Those devices should have been way, way better of course. But I don't put the blame with Chen there.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[DenverRalphy]

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

On what basis could you file an antitrust? Does BBRY allow full BB10 compatibility on Android, iOS, or Win devices? Nope. Sure, they may have developed a few apps for those platforms. But it's nowhere near the same. And the issue isn't with Google. The issue is with the individual app developers. Google doesn't lock their app developer contributions to the Google Play Services. Developers can build their apps independent of the Google Play Services at any time. Whether they choose to or not is not on Google's shoulders. The burden is shouldered by the developers themselves.

What you're asking is that every platform supports every other platform fully.

[fschmeck]

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

Anyone remember when Atari did that with the Jaguar? Good times...

[MarksBusiness]

Welcome to CrackBerry. Obviously, you were not here at the very beginning of BB10, otherwise you would know that Chen was not CEO at the time, so he was not responsible for the fiasco of that launch. BlackBerry did offer money to app developers at that time to bring the major apps to BB10. The major app developers showed ZERO interest!

And to reiterate what we have to repeat in every John Chen thread: HE WAS NOT BROUGHT IN TO SAVE BB10.

Have a good day.

Hello Yes, I wasn't a Blackberry user yet when Lazaridis&Balsillie (before) and Heins (then) messed up everything (I know the story).
I was referring to the initial period, when Chen replaced the former CEOs. If you read my erlier post I gave credit to him for fixing and reorganizing the company (excellent job indeed), but let me just say that he failed "his own" smartphones strategy.
He wasn't supposed to save BB10 maybe, but he didn't even try. Hell, one weakness of BB has always been Marketing and what has he done ? Nothing, the situation seems even worsen to me. When Passport and Classic came out no one but Blackberry's "aficionados" knew something about. Most comments on specialized forums were "Wasn't BB dead ?"-like, how are you supposed to sell your phones and bring back developers to your platform if people don't even know your existence ?

But OK, let's pretend for a moment that OS10 was already dead and the only option left (or, imho, you forced yourself to) was to jump on the Android ship. You would imagine that a little more effort is needed if you want to keep that tiny market share, right ? Well, no. Same patterns as BB10 phones. No commercials, no advertising, no phones in shop showcases, no relevant agreement with providers... actually no bargaining power ! At least you would expect a competitive price with all those Android phones around. Oh wait.

Should Chen leave BB ? Looking at the big picture I would say no (mission accomplished), but if the board has intentions to maintain the Device Unit, I would think about it (sorry, I still remain of my idea that he could have done better). Otherwise, "Chen 4 life" and let's complete the transformation of BB in a software company, finally. I just want this circus to end.

Have a good day you too.

Chen was not brought in at the beginning. The Beginning for BB10 to have any chance of success had to be back in 2010 maybe 2011. By the end of 2013 it was game over. Coupled with being way too late, BB10 had a disastrous launch. Late, buggy, and badly handled. They launched BB10 with the same attitude as if they had the same market position as 2010. Then came a complete fiasco, Blackberry financials blew up, not only with loses but actually burning through tons of cash. The board gave up on the company and tried to sell the company and failed. Two months after this John Chen was brought in to try and salvage Blackberry. He was not brought in the save the phone business, he was brought in the try and save a company that was bleeding cash at a massive rate.

As above.

[Denise in Los Angeles]

I have no time to pretend. It is what it is.

Until Chen decides to leave, the circus will go on.

[anon(9607753)]

I hope it wouldn't be, since it would have zero chance of working. Hell, the odds are very high that the judge would laugh at them as he dismissed the case - with prejudice.

Says Troy, the man who talks as if he knows everything...why am I not surprised? Thank you for your thoughts.

Posted via CB10

[donnation]

Hello Yes, I wasn't a Blackberry user yet when Lazaridis&Balsillie (before) and Heins (then) messed up everything (I know the story).
I was referring to the initial period, when Chen replaced the former CEOs. If you read my erlier post I gave credit to him for fixing and reorganizing the company (excellent job indeed), but let me just say that he failed "his own" smartphones strategy.
He wasn't supposed to save BB10 maybe, but he didn't even try. Hell, one weakness of BB has always been Marketing and what has he done ? Nothing, the situation seems even worsen to me. When Passport and Classic came out no one but Blackberry's "aficionados" knew something about. Most comments on specialized forums were "Wasn't BB dead ?"-like, how are you supposed to sell your phones and bring back developers to your platform if people don't even know your existence ?

But OK, let's pretend for a moment that OS10 was already dead and the only option left (or, imho, you forced yourself to) was to jump on the Android ship. You would imagine that a little more effort is needed if you want to keep that tiny market share, right ? Well, no. Same patterns as BB10 phones. No commercials, no advertising, no phones in shop showcases, no relevant agreement with providers... actually no bargaining power ! At least you would expect a competitive price with all those Android phones around. Oh wait.

Should Chen leave BB ? Looking at the big picture I would say no (mission accomplished), but if the board has intentions to maintain the Device Unit, I would think about it (sorry, I still remain of my idea that he could have done better). Otherwise, "Chen 4 life" and let's complete the transformation of BB in a software company, finally. I just want this circus to end.

Have a good day you too.

As above.

Pretty spot on summary.

[boysontheblock]

Chen really has done a horrible job.

Posted via CB10