[4ron]

What gives? I read that John Chen's compensation last year exceeded $18 million and yet BlackBerry can't advertise and doesn't have a legitimate marketing program. In the meantime hardware sales are down to less than 1%, overall revenues nose diving, and device sales employees being laid off. We love our BlackBerries, but we are also being misled. Mr. Chen says that he wants to stay in the device business but look at the number and kind of devices introduced during his reign. (The Passport was already in development when he arrived.)

Where is the all touch screen phone to compete with Apple and Samsung? See N4BB article. Look at any web site list of the top 10 selling phones and they all fit those specifications. And now, as John Chen says, the new BlackBerry Slider won't be ready until the end of the fiscal year, which means 2016. Then read the investor columns on Seeking Alpha and confidence in BlackBerry Is in question. Add to all that a new book on the rise and fall of BlackBerry. Is history repeating itself?

These are hard times for the BlackBerry faithful. Let's hope the tide turns.

Written on my red Passport.

Posted via CB10

[blackberrybrad]

Seeking Alpha is a joke, should never be spoken about.

Posted via CB10

[Ment]

BB is no longer a device company and doesn't have a future as one in Chen's eyes, its an enterprise software/services company with a few devices that support that focus. Once you realize that everything becomes clear and there doesn't have to be a gnashing of teeth and thread after thread complaining about it.

[BlackBerry Guy]

Chen has come right out and said they are focusing on enterprise and expanding their software offerings. They aren't directly chasing Apple and Samsung for a piece of the consumer market anymore. They tried that during Thorsten Heins' time as CEO, and it didn't turn out well.

History is not repeating itself right now...it's a new course being charted by Chen. Now if they were to try marketing a device directly targeting the top 10 consumer phones hoping it would bring success, THAT would be history repeating itself.

[4ron]

The Z10 and BlackBerry 10 O S were way underdeveloped at the time of launch...and subsequently a disaster...as well as late to market. Also, as we all can remember, the marketing was non existent after the infamous Super Bowl ad. The result: a comedy of errors that further eroded consumer confidence after the poorly designed Storm! BlackBerry never gave itself and its loyal customers a chance. Will the new slider restore some consumer confidence? It's anybody's guess.

Posted via CB10

[carlosmpt]

Chen is worth $18 million.

Posted via CB10

[thymaster]

I trrust Chen can bring success back into the company. People just needs to relax and have faith in the guy.

Posted via CB10

[Troy Tiscareno]

Chen's job was always to save BB (the company) and not BB10/hardware specifically. Note that the board didn't bring in a hardware guy, but rather a software guy, to turn the company around. Anyone who didn't understand that back in 2013 was either ignorant of that or in denial about what it meant.

IMO, it's not a matter of if BB is going to exit the handset business, but rather when are they going to exit the handset business. I suspect it will be in 2016, but probably later in the year.

[early2bed]

A decent smartphone marketing campaign costs $100M. That's what Verizon spent in 2008 to push the Storm (WSJ reference below). You don't make a profit by spending that kind of money to sell an additional 2M smartphones - simple math will tell you that would cost you $50 per additional phone just for the advertising. So much for the legitimate marketing program.

When a guy like John Chen says that he's going to make a profit on smartphones, he's not talking about selling more phones. He's talking about cutting costs to the bone and doing the easiest sales - mostly what your remaining customers want which are keyboard phones and enterprise deployment devices.


Verizon Wireless's BlackBerry Storm Reaches Land - WSJ

[igor10000]

I love optimistic people

Posted via CB10

[Prem WatsApp]

I love optimistic people

Posted via CB10

I'm with you, right here... :-D

�   Passposted while waiting for the Z-lider....   �

[lnichols]

Chen is there to get Prem his money back. Nothing more. He isn't their for BlackBerry customers, and could care less about consumers. He is there to complete the sale of BlackBerry at a Profit to Prem, something Thor wasn't able to accomplish.

Posted via Z30

[MikeX74]

BB is no longer a device company and doesn't have a future as one in Chen's eyes, its an enterprise software/services company with a few devices that support that focus. Once you realize that everything becomes clear and there doesn't have to be a gnashing of teeth and thread after thread complaining about it.

If they're not a devices company, why do they still sell devices?

[atlasmike]

N

Posted via CB10

[atlasmike]

Chen is worth every penny. Well pennies don't exist in Canada any more so he's worth every dollar.

Posted via CB10

[Mark Mutz]

OP's comment on history repeating itself is pertinent. Look at all the begging and pleading by BlackBerry users for a new all touch. It's out there loud and clear. But all we get and hear able is devices with PKBs. But . . . "We'll be okay "

Posted via CB10

[Ment]

If they're not a devices company, why do they still sell devices?

1) They are in a transition phase and devices still account for 40+% of revenue but that is going down quarter after quarter.
2) Even after the transition is complete, some enterprise clients will need an end-to-end solution. Given they still have to make handsets it makes sense to still offer that to the general marketplace but BB won't put any money into consumer marketing, that is seen as spending foolishly.

[IndianTiwari]

Chen deserves every dollar he earns. Years of mismanagement had left BlackBerry in total disarray . Chen if not righted the ship but atleast he has prevented it from further listing. BlackBerry is no longer bleeding and under Chen it has started becoming a attractive acquisition target!!

Posted via BlackBerry Passport [ 10.3.2.680 ]

[mikegcox]

If they made a phone with the specs to compete with the top end competitors, it would still only sell to to core blackberry fans. If you build an iPhone replica and it is the same in every way except for the logo and OS, are you going to buy the original or the copycat device? Consumers are still enamoured with Apple, very few consumers have a reason to switch away. A glass rectangle with BB10 will not sell against a glass rectangle from Apple or Samsung no matter the specs.

[hoonigan99]

What gives? I read that John Chen's compensation last year exceeded $18 million and yet BlackBerry can't advertise and doesn't have a legitimate marketing program. In the meantime hardware sales are down to less than 1%, overall revenues nose diving, and device sales employees being laid off. We love our BlackBerries, but we are also being misled. Mr. Chen says that he wants to stay in the device business but look at the number and kind of devices introduced during his reign. (The Passport was already in development when he arrived.)

Where is the all touch screen phone to compete with Apple and Samsung? See N4BB article. Look at any web site list of the top 10 selling phones and they all fit those specifications. And now, as John Chen says, the new BlackBerry Slider won't be ready until the end of the fiscal year, which means 2016. Then read the investor columns on Seeking Alpha and confidence in BlackBerry Is in question. Add to all that a new book on the rise and fall of BlackBerry. Is history repeating itself?

These are hard times for the BlackBerry faithful. Let's hope the tide turns.

Written on my red Passport.

Posted via CB10

You also need to keep in mind that $18M is total compensation, which means factoring costs of all his travel back home on their private jet as well as other expenses (per diems, etc)

BB for Life

[playpen007]

BlackBerry messed up big time. Did you hear what Chen said in the interview? When Chen was a CEO for one of the company and he wanted to license something from BlackBerry and he thought it would cost over a million dollar but it only cost him $200,000. Chen knows how to run business. He talked a lot about BlackBerry patents. He thinks BlackBerry patents have a lot of value. There are a lot of rumor about Microsoft or Apple will buy BlackBerry for 7 billion dollars. Even they give BlackBerry double the amount, it is still not for sale. Facebook bought Whatsapp for 20 billion dollars--it just an app. Give Chen a few years and BlackBerry valuation at least 20 or more billion dollars just the software side only, not included hardware and patents. BlackBerry will capture big with IoT. Who is not need BlackBerry security when all billion of devices link together? The revenues from IoT will be big for BlackBerry. It'll take time. Relax...

[Bbnivende]

Chen has come right out and said they are focusing on enterprise and expanding their software offerings. They aren't directly chasing Apple and Samsung for a piece of the consumer market anymore. They tried that during Thorsten Heins' time as CEO, and it didn't turn out well.

History is not repeating itself right now...it's a new course being charted by Chen. Now if they were to try marketing a device directly targeting the top 10 consumer phones hoping it would bring success, THAT would be history repeating itself.

BlackBerry can profit more from a top all touch device than from a mid- low device. The margin is higher. Secondly, why would we presume that Enterprise does not want a top grade all touch phone. I am not buying the Spin that Mr. Chen puts out. He is not interested in hardware but his customers are.

[Bbnivende]

Chen's job was always to save BB (the company) and not BB10/hardware specifically. Note that the board didn't bring in a hardware guy, but rather a software guy, to turn the company around. Anyone who didn't understand that back in 2013 was either ignorant of that or in denial about what it meant.

IMO, it's not a matter of if BB is going to exit the handset business, but rather when are they going to exit the handset business. I suspect it will be in 2016, but probably later in the year.

Maybe that is for the best - It would be great if some other manufacturer bought the rights to continue with the PKB design. An Android BlackBerry Bold & Slider. I would add BB10 too but that will not happen - it will just be an App(s) it seems.

[madman0141]

18 million is a lot considering they continue to lay off employees. Somehow reducing the workforce is considered positive. This still has me confused but for 18 million I guess its worth it. Right?

[Thorsten Heinsight]

I thought Chen only gets $1 million and then most of his value is in stock options so he has a lot of incentive to turn the company around (because he profits hugely when the stock price goes up)?
BlackBerry?s Chen Gets Pay Package About $88 Million - Bloomberg Business
Where did the $18 million figure come from?