- If you spot an error in this let me know or thing any of this is factually incorrect let me know and I'll edit the post.
So is Blackberry exiting hardware?
Yes. If we define 'making hardware' as either making it yourself (priv) or contracting a third party to do it for you in an outsourcing model (Dtek50). This is what John Chen said at the earnings call:
We really have not outsourced all our development - hardware development or handset development effort. We are taking one or two products outsource it to others, but we've been developing our own handset also.
So with what I announced today, we will end that activity and rely completely on partners.
Not so fast, he say this will be finished by 28th January 2017 - so what happens between now and then is an unknown.
I'm confused, I thought they were outsourcing their phones to someone else?
Outsourcing is when you pay a partner or other organisation to perform a task for you. So the DTEK50 is an example of outsourcing. BBRY pays TCL to make the phone and all of the risk, servicing costs, sales costs and profits stay with Blackberry.
So the DTEK50 and DTEK60 are phones made under the old business model which they are quiting?
Yes - it doesn't mean that we couldn't see a future phone with the name DTEK on it but that would down to someone else licensing the name.
So what are they actually doing if it's not outsourcing?
They are licensing their IP, brand and their software to third parties. BBRY will take a royalty payment but the risk, servicing costs, sales and profits stay with the partner. Troy explains it really well here
But the phones will be as secure as current blackberry phones?
That is unclear - BBRY will issue guidelines to partners but we don't know what is in these guidelines. However on the matter of security, John Chen said this at the Q2 2017 earnings call:
No, because we are - some of the hardware security features, we will either license and provide to the third party we talk about, some might not take it.
We don't know what this is either - however the one licensing partner they currently have - an Indonesian Joint Venture 'BB Merah Putih' says that they are producing low-end consumer devices. what low-end means, we don't know.
What other licensing partners currently exist?
At the present moment, none.
Will the Dtek60 come out?
Yes - the DTEK60 was launched for sale on the 25th Oct.
Will the mercury come out?
John Chen has made conflict statements on this but said this to the financial post:
“The one with the keyboard, I guess it’s kind of resting in my office… I’m testing it right now,” Chen said.
“We’re not making any announcement of whether there is one or isn’t one. There exists in this world one,” he said.
It’s standard for BlackBerry personnel to test devices before they go to market, Chen said before adding that some carriers have already seen the device. BlackBerry expects to make a decision on its release once they come back to him with a business case.
“We’ll go from there, we’ll make a decision from there,” he said.
Will Samsung or another big player license the keyboard or the software?
The only clue we have about this is an interview in techcrunch where the head of devices Ralph Pini said:
Pini admits that such partnerships are not likely to occur with Android’s biggest names, who have already developed their own in-house security and productivity offerings. The company is instead targeting what he deems “second- and third-tier” handset makers.
This is hard to pin down in a factual sense but it might include alcatel, Blu, Doogee (depending on the region).
wait a minute, someone told me there was an interview where he pointed at a wall and said we'll see a keyboard phone in 2017 - so he must be making one?
What he actually says in that interview when asked "will we fill that?" [the space on the wall marked 2017] his response is
Yes we're probably going to fill that. when we allow other people to build a handset.
yes, they are very excited
This was promised for March, now Oct 2016. As far as we know besides some minor technical fixes, some security certification - there are no functional changes at the user level.
Will we see another BB10 handset?
In an interview with itbusiness.ca, head of devices Pini was quoted as saying:
The move also doesn’t mean the death of BlackBerry 10, Pini says. BlackBerry is currently working towards its 10.3.3 release for existing devices and the OS could even see new life in the future.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see the software in another device,” he says. “But I couldn’t tell you when or where.”
Goodbye.Last edited by cgk; 10-26-16 at 02:20 AM. Reason: Added direct quote about bb10
10-02-16 06:43 AMLike 24 - I swear that Blackberry will never allow for licensing BB10 even if other companies asks for it. Chen's purpose was to chen BB10 (chen = can) so that it couldn't compete with US operating systems. Even if Blackberry can make money from licensing BB10 which is low risk, they will never allow it.10-02-16 06:58 AMLike 0
-
So what are they actually doing if it's not outsourcing?
They are licensing their IP, brand and their software to third parties. BBRY will take a royalty payment but the risk, servicing costs, sales and profits stay with the partner.
What other licensing partners currently exist?
At the present moment, none.
Will Samsung or another big player license the keyboard?
The only clue we have about this is an interview in techcrunch where the head of devices Ralph Pini said:
...such partnerships are not likely to occur...
Posted via CB1010-02-16 07:05 AMLike 0 - If you spot an error in this let me know or thing any of this is factually incorrect let me know and I'll edit the post.
So is Blackberry exiting hardware?
Yes. If we define 'making hardware' as either making it yourself (priv) or contracting a third party to do it for you in an outsourcing model (Dtek50). This is what John Chen said at the earnings call:
Yikes! So they have finished making phones as of today!
Not so fast, he say this will be finished by 28th January 2017 - so what happens between now and then is an unknown.
I'm confused, I thought they were outsourcing their phones to someone else?
Outsourcing is when you pay a partner or other organisation to perform a task for you. So the DTEK50 is an example of outsourcing. BBRY pays TCL to make the phone and all of the risk, servicing costs, sales costs and profits stay with Blackberry.
So what are they actually doing if it's not outsourcing?
They are licensing their IP, brand and their software to third parties. BBRY will take a royalty payment but the risk, servicing costs, sales and profits stay with the partner.
But the phones will be as secure as current blackberry phones?
That is unclear - BBRY will issue guidelines to partners but we don't know what is in these guidelines. However on the matter of security, John Chen said this at the Q2 2017 earnings call:
Is there a minimum standard for hardware?
We don't know what this is either - however the one licensing partner they currently have - an Indonesian Joint Venture 'BB Merah Putih' says that they are producing low-end consumer devices. what low-end means, we don't know.
What other licensing partners currently exist?
At the present moment, none.
Will Samsung or another big player license the keyboard?
The only clue we have about this is an interview in techcrunch where the head of devices Ralph Pini said:
Will the Dtek60 come out?
The factual answer to this is - we don't know.
Will the mercury come out?
John Chen has made conflict statements on this but said this to the financial post:
wait a minute, someone told me there was an interview where he pointed at a wall and said we'll see a keyboard phone in 2017 - so he must be making one?
What he actually says in that interview when asked "will we fill that?" [the space on the wall marked 2017] his response is
and when asked directly 'so the keyboard is coming back?' his response was:
What about a dual-booting BB10/android device with a hypervisor?
Goodbye.10-02-16 07:51 AMLike 0 - By the way for those wondering. You can preorder DTEK 60.
http://m.androidcentral.com/you-can-...60-ncix-canada10-02-16 07:55 AMLike 0 - The one with the keyboard does not fall in line with your thinking. He says it is done and we are testing it. He just needs to make his mind to release or not. No partner or such is included for this model. That is why I feel enthusiastic about it. Apart from the pkb model all the things you say is %100 correct.
I've quoted what Chen has said about the matter towards the bottom - he saids he has the prototype but he's not sure if he's going to release it - that's the factual accurate statement - it's a direct quote from him.
I've moved the two questions together to make that clearer. I've also added the link you provided to the pre-order.10-02-16 07:59 AMLike 0 - I've quoted what Chen has said about the matter towards the bottom - he saids he has the prototype but he's not sure if he's going to release it - that's the factual accurate statement - it's a direct quote from him.
I've moved the two questions together to make that clearer. I've also added the link you provided to the pre-order.10-02-16 08:04 AMLike 0 - I swear that Blackberry will never allow for licensing BB10 even if other companies asks for it. Chen's purpose was to chen BB10 (chen = can) so that it couldn't compete with US operating systems. Even if Blackberry can make money from licensing BB10 which is low risk, they will never allow it.10-02-16 09:25 AMLike 0
-
BLACKBERRY DEVICES BLACKBERRY DTEK60 RETAIL NA - Product DetailsBB-JAM215 likes this.10-02-16 09:25 AMLike 1 - I might want to point out, all those third party listings are actually sourced from BlackBerry's main distributor, Ingram Micro.
BLACKBERRY DEVICES BLACKBERRY DTEK60 RETAIL NA - Product Details10-02-16 09:27 AMLike 0 - I'm still a bit confused.
Are the DTEK50/60 part of the new strategy (non BlackBerry designed phones/licensed products) so these releases will continue into the future or is the end of hardware / licensing something completely different that we haven't seen yet.
Posted via CB1010-02-16 09:32 AMLike 0 - I'm still a bit confused.
Are the DTEK50/60 part of the new strategy (non BlackBerry designed phones/licensed products) so these releases will continue into the future or is the end of hardware / licensing something completely different that we haven't seen yet.
Posted via CB1010-02-16 09:36 AMLike 0 -
- Nicely done on the FAQ. Still hoping for the Mercury release to go through but have tempered my expectations since the earnings call and subsequent interviews.
Any thoughts on to how long before we hear more on the new strategy, good or bad. I'm not optimistic but hope they manage to pull it off. When does the Indonesian factory go live? Any indication of when they might pump out the first licensed device?
If it all goes south on licensing, maybe Samsung will do a trial run of a PKB if the field is completely open to them. Pipe dream probably but they seem to be the best equipped to be able to make it happen at minimal risk to themselves.10-02-16 11:02 AMLike 0 -
The DTEK50 is the first phone that would have been outsourced in this way (I mean by using hardware already available by another company). I would have assumed they would have already known the exit from hardware was a done deal well before releasing this phone and to shift strategy for one or two if you count the DTEK60 doesn't make sense. The Priv was the last BlackBerry designed phone (and possibly the Mercury will become the last, if released, so it can try to take advantage of "end of an era" nostalgia BlackBerry fans.
The DTEK50/60 fits the description of using 2nd/3rd tier providers for hardware licensing.
Posted via CB10anon(3641385) likes this.10-02-16 11:48 AMLike 1
- Forum
- Popular at CrackBerry
- General BlackBerry News, Discussion & Rumors
Blackberry Exit - FAQ
Similar Threads
-
BlackBerry Z3 touch stopped after upgrade
By Hobiano in forum Ask a QuestionReplies: 9Last Post: 12-15-16, 01:38 PM -
If BlackBerry disappeared when everyone thought it did, would that be bad?
By d987654321 in forum General BlackBerry News, Discussion & RumorsReplies: 6Last Post: 10-02-16, 12:02 PM -
Is it possible to obtain a .bar file 4 Daily Mail Blackberry (as well as some other retired ones)?
By CrackBerry Question in forum Ask a QuestionReplies: 1Last Post: 10-02-16, 10:02 AM -
BlackBerry Protect
By yeo123 in forum BlackBerry Z30Replies: 4Last Post: 10-02-16, 04:52 AM -
BlackBerry DTEK60 goes up for pre-order from NCIX
By CrackBerry News in forum CrackBerry.com News Discussion & ContestsReplies: 0Last Post: 10-01-16, 08:30 PM
LINK TO POST COPIED TO CLIPBOARD