[notfanboy]

Where are the headless apps? It's been promised for a long time but so far there hasn't been any real benefit. Multitasking on BB10 is crippled without this basic feature. This is one of the most important Android features that BB10 doesn't have.

[leejayh]

I am impressed with how get them have come in a year.

Is it enough? No.
Is it late? Yes.
Is it promising? Yes.

The biggest thing that Chen needs to do after stabilizing the company for survival, is to come up with an actual Device strategy and then a Marketing / Brand rejuvenation plan.

From a Device standpoint, they need to create a Blackberry design language that is desirable. And, they need a real device strategy. This is non existant.

From a Brand and Marketing standpoint, this is their biggest problem and probably the hardest thing to do -- change people's opinions.

So, with bb10 in a good place, get a flagship phone (and the more cost conscious models, but with some liar design language) and put it together with a great marketing campaign and reboot the Brand.

Posted via CB10

[BitPusher2600]

The BB7 lingerers are hilarious.

Z10STL100-3/10.2.1.2141

Of course we are, we enjoy something you may never get to enjoy; being contented in such a way that our feathers aren't ruffled and you just can't win an argument with totally satisfied folks. All the complaints everyone else has about wanting this or missing that, and we go to bed at night having felt fine all day about our devices. Yep, it's a real comedy

[sixpacker]

Given the massive upheaval in the last year (including the failed sale attempt) the engineering group has done well to deliver 10.2.1. Unfortunately, management failure to market their innovation may kill ultimately kill off bb10 anyway. The change in direction to The Classic and physical keyboards is also a significant error IMHO. At this time I am still not convinced that Chen is not implementing a split and sell strategy.
Worth noting that Corey is a paid contributor btw...

[JeepBB]

The BB7 lingerers are hilarious.

If I understood the ER correctly, those "hilarious BB7 lingerers" are the people keeping BB afloat by bringing in much needed revenue. So maybe grateful applause rather than ridicule might be more appropriate?

[bigbadben10]

I just love how these threads get so polarized. Reminds me of America politics

Posted with my gorgeous Z30

[spikesolie]

If I understood the ER correctly, those "hilarious BB7 lingerers" are the people keeping BB afloat by bringing in much needed revenue. So maybe grateful applause rather than ridicule might be more appropriate?

Grateful? What is this? A celebration? Why would I be grateful? I don't own bb.. i never had a BlackBerry until 2012 and my life if bb doesn't make it will still go on. If BlackBerry doesn't make it, neither will os7 for that matter. I can't be grateful to no one or that POS os. The people I know keep theirs in a drawer and whip out their androids. They only kept it because of nostalgia.

From zee coolest flicking smartphone ever

[JeepBB]

Grateful? What is this? A celebration? Why would I be grateful? I don't own bb.. i never had a BlackBerry until 2012 and my life if bb doesn't make it will still go on. If BlackBerry doesn't make it, neither will os7 for that matter. I can't be grateful to no one or that POS os. The people I know keep theirs in a drawer and whip out their androids. They only kept it because of nostalgia.

From zee coolest flicking smartphone ever

Gosh, so much anger.

I'll spell it out. Legacy handsets are pretty much keeping BB afloat. IIRC, Over half of revenue is from them.

The less money BB has, the less chance that there'll be any successor to that "coolest flicking smartphone" of yours.

The people I know with BB7 handsets are probably the most loyal of BB users, and their handsets will probably need to be prised away from their cold dead hands. So they'll *continue* to be the people keeping BB afloat... Which is why they deserve gratitude.

[spikesolie]

Gosh, so much anger.

I'll spell it out. Legacy handsets are pretty much keeping BB afloat. IIRC, Over half of revenue is from them.

The less money BB has, the less chance that there'll be any successor to that "coolest flicking smartphone" of yours.

The people I know with BB7 handsets are probably the most loyal of BB users, and their handsets will probably need to be prised away from their cold dead hands. So they'll *continue* to be the people keeping BB afloat... Which is why they deserve gratitude.

And what im.saying is that when my.coolest flicking smartphone is due for upgrade, if BlackBerry isn't alive I'll have to live my life without it. Sad? Yes but ios isn't so bad. A step backwards but just 1 step ah. Basically I'm saying even zee coolest phone doesn't have a monopoly on being the only option I use (:

From zee coolest flicking smartphone ever

[spikesolie]

Gosh, so much anger.

I'll spell it out. Legacy handsets are pretty much keeping BB afloat. IIRC, Over half of revenue is from them.

The less money BB has, the less chance that there'll be any successor to that "coolest flicking smartphone" of yours.

The people I know with BB7 handsets are probably the most loyal of BB users, and their handsets will probably need to be prised away from their cold dead hands. So they'll *continue* to be the people keeping BB afloat... Which is why they deserve gratitude.

Also if these people continue to refuse to give bb10 a try, sooner than later they'll be irrelevant.. they kinda already are just like bb10 fans are irrelevant in the world of tech

From zee coolest flicking smartphone ever

[jdcfinisher]

I personally know 6 people with os7 phones who use them constantly all day and have no interest in getting a new phone till they break. They simply can't be bothered, their phones work and that's all they care about. P.S. Not one of them has received any information about BB10 from BlackBerry, even one guy who worked IT at Telus for years knew nothing about BB10 .

Posted via CB10

[birdman_38]

Not sure that they're totally back on track yet. John Chen seems to be changing strategy every quarter.

[Tatwi]

No.

BlackBerry OS7 phones are still out selling BlackBerry OS10 phones by 2 to 1.

Sales are lower now than ever.

They are putting in a new order of OS7 Bolds rather than pushing the Q20 (a true OS10 Bold replacement) out the door sooner.

They have cluttered BMM up with a bunch of crap I don't want or care about, such that I went back to version 6 on my 9900, ditching it entirely on my Z10.

To me they are focused on all the crap I don't care about and they are loosing money and customers while doing so. Sounds like a fantastic year! ....

[Loc22]

Where are the headless apps? It's been promised for a long time but so far there hasn't been any real benefit. Multitasking on BB10 is crippled without this basic feature. This is one of the most important Android features that BB10 doesn't have.

Need to understand what you require in multitasking as I had a look at the Android way to do multitasking & thought it wasn't fluid or even natural. Si I decided to stay with BlackBerry 10 instead. I think it is alot more convenient to just swipe up & switch to the next app rather than press a button for a long time to wait for the list of open apps & then choose the one I want.

Posted via CB10

[wincyUt]

I personally know 6 people with os7 phones who use them constantly all day and have no interest in getting a new phone till they break. They simply can't be bothered, their phones work and that's all they care about. P.S. Not one of them has received any information about BB10 from BlackBerry, even one guy who worked IT at Telus for years knew nothing about BB10 .

Posted via CB10

a "guy who worked IT at Telus for years knew nothing about BB10"? He must be living in total isolation. I certainly won't want him to be my IT guy. Whatever happened to Professional Development Education courses for this guy? Doesn't he read Tech news? SMH

[Ethereo]

Not sure that they're totally back on track yet. John Chen seems to be changing strategy every quarter.

Actually I dont see this, focus in Enterprise and Emerging Markets, since Chen took control that has been the strategy, please tell me which strategy has changed?

[jeffbb10]

I wouldn't say impressed. I don't think anyone can really say they are impressed unless they are truly die hard BlackBerry fan boys, I do love my z10 very much. And couldn't use a android or apple after using this phone. So all I'm saying I guess is I'm satisfied for now.

Posted via CB10

[RubberChicken76]

I'm in the "things are moving in the right direction, but there's more to do and the end result is unclear" camp. :-)

- The OS updates are coming out quicker than in the past and filling in the pieces better in the past. How BlackBerry 10 evolved in a year vs. how PlayBook OS did in a year is very different, in a good way. But there are still glitches that need to be resolved.

- I get what John Chen is doing by focusing on business units specifically so that we can see how each is performing rather than one glob of a mess. I like the split between Handhelds, MDM, BBM and QNX. The unknown is what happens down the road. BlackBerry we know it could change dramatically still, but at least the visibility into individual pieces will show the trend of where it's going to go over time.

- I'm not excited by the new devices coming out, but I get their importance. The Q5 was way too expensive to appeal en-mass to supplant the Curve line and the Q10 was so radically different than the 9900 that it didn't get the upgrades. If Chen is able to successfully roll out the Z3 at a slight profit and the Q20 brings in more upgrades, he will have fixed one of Thor's big snafus. But it remains to be seen.

- I do like that BlackBerry interacts with the public more than in the old days. I love seeing them on Twitter and responding. Thor gets credit for really pushing this to be honest, but Chen has taken a level further by doing it himself.

- I do like that Chen has a no bull**** approach to speaking ... sometimes. He can sometimes get a bit off topic and ramble (like Jim) and isn't quite as polished as Thor or Mike, but he's honest about what the problems are instead of sugar coating it or boasting. Thor was more than Mike or Jim, but John is more than Thor. I also like that he says what he's going to do about it.

- I like that they are exploring more carefully the channels that they sell in. I know first hand how expensive the channels can be to support, how channels have you over a barrel and how you can find yourself losing cash quickly in specific channels if you cave into the random childish screaming of a buyer in a particular channel.

- I wish I had more visibility into how John Chen sees the world at the end of the year, in 2015 and 2016 but he's not obligated to give it to us and won't. I imagine he has a plan A in his head that involves things stabilizing and growing; and a plan B that involves stabilizing and selling; and a plan C that involves some businesses stabilizing and the non-stable ones being lobbed off or sold off.

- I do think it's going to take him at least 6 or 8 quarters to get there though and that he has only given small snippets of what he's thinking. Anyone expecting BlackBerry to suddenly become profitable and grow next quarter ... and stop the negative sentiment at the same time is expecting too much. I still don't know what's going to happen to the company, but I am comfortable that at least they have someone with the experience of turning around a destressed multi-billion dollar company around on his resume.

Lots of good things, but the future is not assured yet and more to be done.

I wouldn't invest my own money until it starts to grow again and there's profit. But I'm also not immediately worried about the doors closing.

[RubberChicken76]

John Chen seems to be changing strategy every quarter.

I think he's a simple fact of he's not sharing it with you personally. I bet the view he shares with his execs of what he plans over 36 months and 12 quarters is very different from what you see, which is the random leavers he's pulling.

His only stated goal this year to to return BlackBerry to break-even ... so he's lowering operating expenses, re-negotiating terms, filling the product pipeline with stuff to appeal to where they are stronger vs. weaker and grabbing revenue where he can.

You're looking at it in a bit of a binary way, one initiative at a time. It's fair because you aren't being given the big picture, but I doubt any of us will gleam his strategy from individual sound bytes and one off looks at specific initiatives.

It's also possible he has multiple goals ;-)

For example:

Saying, "I plan to focus my marketing efforts on enterprise" does not necessarily mean, "I am abandoning consumer altogether" anymore than it means "focusing on selling handsets to enterprises means I am not putting QNX into cars". Each of his four businesses need to perform.

[Peter Burns]

They need to find a way to do a massive ad campaign to showcase the devices. Billboards all over major cities and catchy commercials like Motorola used to have. Even if they have to borrow the money to do this I think it will payoff. Some people don't even know they are around anymore.

Posted via CB10

[Peter Burns]

Maybe they need some regular socialite to give them ideas on that....

Posted via CB10

[PFman]

I'm not impressed at all.

OS7..... They needed to kill it.

Go into an apple store and try to buy something with IOS3 on it and they will look at you and then the door....

It's dead and they should have gone all in with bb10, by building new devices they are giving customers a reason not to upgrade, and that's a massive fail.

Shows they have no faith in their own product......


Sent from my XT1033 using Tapatalk

[nabil114]

Not really .................

[anon(8181885)]

BlackBerry is moving in the right direction they have put tremendous effort this year except for marketing. Chen is doing everything and anything a CEO in his position is to do. He has stockholders to business to take care of. The consumers don't want bb10. He's doing Mike and Jims old model where they only sold to big corporations and the demand trickled down to the consumer. BlackBerry was prestigious at one point a sign of a important person who need to be in the loop.

Posted via CB10

[nabil114]

They need to find a way to do a massive ad campaign to showcase the devices. Billboards all over major cities and catchy commercials like Motorola used to have. Even if they have to borrow the money to do this I think it will payoff. Some people don't even know they are around anymore.

Posted via CB10

Marketing like that do not work because people have to like the product