https://www.channelfutures.com/wp-content/themes/channelfutures_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Technology Solutions Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Rankings
    • NextGen 101 Rankings
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Channel Futures 20: Top Tech Providers
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2023 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2022 MSP 501
    • Channel Influencers
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Technology Advisor 101 (TA 101)
    • Channel Leaders Lists
  • Events
    • Back
    • 2023 Call for Speakers
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
Channel Futures
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Technology Solutions Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Rankings
    • NextGen 101 Rankings
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Channel Futures 20: Top Tech Providers
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2023 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2022 MSP 501
    • Channel Influencers
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Technology Advisor 101 (TA 101)
    • Channel Leaders Lists
  • Events
    • Back
    • 2023 Call for Speakers
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
    • Newsletter
  • REGISTER
  • MSPs
  • VARs / SIs
  • Agents
  • Cloud Service Providers
  • Channel Partners Events
 Channel Futures

Mobility & Wireless


Can BlackBerry (BBRY) Survive Without Consumers?

  • Written by DH Kass 1
  • September 21, 2013
In the wake of BlackBerry's (BBRY) financial bloodbath on Sept. 20--an expected Q2 huge revenue shortfall and a $995 million net operating loss--will the skeletal smartphone company have enough flesh on the bones to survive?

After this latest Q2 2013 financial tornado officially blows through BlackBerry (BBRY) on September 27– leaving 4,500 fewer employees, a revenue shortfall at $1.6 billion about half of Wall Street’s expectation, a GAAP net operating loss that could reach $995 million, and a paring of one-third of the company’s hardware lineup–will the skeletal company have enough flesh on the bones to survive?

Even though advance word had surfaced of the impending layoffs—about 35 percent of BlackBerry’s 12,700 workforce—the depth of the expected losses for the period were surprising, dashing the smartphone maker’s hopes, perhaps for good, of a return to its glory days. If the good old days are gone, what then, if anything, remains for BlackBerry?

The quick and easy—but unrevealing—answer is the “Special Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors continues to evaluate all strategic alternatives for the Company.” We already knew that but the compelling news along those lines that emerged on Friday was former BlackBerry chief Mike Lazaridis’ reported interest in making a private equity bid for the company, according to various accounts, including The New York Times. Lazaridis co-founded BlackBerry with Jim Balsillie almost 30 years ago but stepped aside in 2012 in favor of current chief Thorsten Heins.

Barring a sale, this is what appears to be BlackBerry’s strategic blueprint going forward:

  • Continue to aim at enterprise customers.

BlackBerry’s love affair with the professional end user knows no bounds. The company intends to target “prosumers” with two high-end units and two entry-level models, presented in all-touch and keyboard editions. The vendor also said it will “re-tier” the Z10 to make it more appealing to entry-level customers, but didn’t say who that is and why they’ll buy the re-jiggered device. 

  • Build on enterprise services in government and business accounts.

BlackBerry said it has more than 25,000 BES 10 commercial and test servers installed to date, up 6,000 from two months ago. “Our enterprise business continues to reflect the trust that governments and businesses have placed in the BlackBerry platform,” said Heins. “Security matters and enterprises know the gold standard in enterprise mobility is BlackBerry.”

And, what of its idea to license BB 10 in new and unusual ways? If the re-fashioned company still wants to try to make that happen, no mentioned was made of it last week. Nor was any new word leaked about spinning off the popular BBM service as a separate business.

Looking back to last Friday

As for the horrific news the company came forward with last Friday, the worst item the misfiring device maker disclosed may have been the 3.7 million smartphones it shipped last quarter, at 45 percent of the prior quarter a disappointing figure in itself made far worse by the fact that most of the units in question are BlackBerry 7’s and don’t run the company’s supposed comeback locomotive, the BlackBerry 10 operating system.

To be more precise, in Q2 BlackBerry sold some 5.9 million smartphones, including Z10s, to end customers but more than two million of those sales were consummated prior to the beginning of the period and did not count in the device maker’s accounting. Of its $1.6 billion in sales for Q2, about half came from services, BlackBerry said. The vendor blamed an approximate $960 million inventory and supply commitments write-down it plans to take for Q2 on poor sales of the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone.

When the Q2 rubble is sorted through, BlackBerry will be left with about $2.6 billion in cash and investments and no debt.

“We are implementing the difficult, but necessary operational changes announced today to address our position in a maturing and more competitive industry, and to drive the company toward profitability,” said Heins.

“Going forward, we plan to refocus our offering on our end-to-end solution of hardware, software and services for enterprises and the productive, professional end user” he said. “This puts us squarely on target with the customers that helped build BlackBerry into the leading brand today for enterprise security, manageability and reliability.”

The problem with this Back to the Future approach is the smartphone times, and the competitive landscape, have changed. If this latest BlackBerry blueprint is faulty, you can look to the company getting parted out for its messenger service, patents and its enterprise services business because it will be the only option left.

Tags: Agents Cloud Service Providers MSPs VARs/SIs Mobility & Wireless

Most Recent


  • hybrid work
    Hybrid Work Model: Keeper Security, Open Systems, More Address Security Concerns
    The human element plays a big role in hybrid work security.
  • IoT Technology, state of telco channel
    State of the Telco Channel: Partners, Suppliers Weigh in on Challenges
    Transactional vs. transformational. Upmarket vs. down-market. Nuance abounds in the network services channel.
  • Microsoft Teams, Fusion Connect partnership
    Fusion Connect Drives Growth with Long-Term Investment in Microsoft Operator Connect
    The company says Teams has become more robust in the last three years.
  • OT organizations
    Fortinet: Cybercriminals Heavily Targeting OT Organizations
    There's lots of opportunities for partners to help OT organizations shore up their cybersecurity.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your Channel Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • 5G
    5G: Revolution or Evolution?
  • Security shield on digital background
    VMware Security Connect Focused on Redefining Security, Increasing Threats
  • Fortune 500 2021 logo
    AT&T, Microsoft, Verizon, More Tech, Telco Companies Make Latest Fortune 500
  • security
    WatchGuard Rolls Out New Product Family Year After Panda Security Acquisition

Upcoming Events

View all

Channel Partners Europe

June 13, 2023 - June 14, 2023

Channel Futures Leadership Summit

October 30, 2023 - November 2, 2023

Channel Partners Conference & Expo

March 11, 2024 - March 14, 2024

Galleries

View all

7 Channel People Making Waves This Week at TD Synnex, Veeam, Kaseya, Zendesk, More

June 2, 2023

Cloud Computing News: VMware, Celigo, Google Cloud, AWS Dominate the Week

June 2, 2023

Channel People on the Move: HPE, Lumen, Sophos, TD Synnex, AireSpring, More

June 1, 2023

Industry Perspectives

View all

Dell Technologies World: Dell Apex Expanded Across On-Premises, Cloud and Edge

May 22, 2023

Identity Is Increasingly Valuable – and Targeted

May 18, 2023

Gaining a Competitive Advantage through AV Managed Services

May 10, 2023

Webinars

View all

From Problem to Profit: Mastering the Science of Selling Using Business Outcomes

May 9, 2023

Meet the 2023 Channel Futures Channel Influencers

April 13, 2023

DE&I Dialogue: How the Right DE&I Initiatives Can Propel Your Business

April 5, 2023

White Papers

View all

6 UCaaS Reseller Challenges and How Real World Businesses Solved Them

February 1, 2023

Frost Radar: North American UCaaS Market, 2022

February 1, 2023

The Complete Guide to White-Label UCaaS for Reseller Success

February 1, 2023

Channel Futures TV

View all

Coffee with Craig and James Episode No. 123: MartinWolf M&A Advisors, CP Expo Preview

UScellular Takes On Rivals with Partner Program Simplicity

April 21, 2023

OpenText Simplifying Deal Registration, Doubling Down on MDF

April 21, 2023

Everything-as-a-Service: CloudBlue Touts Critical Customer Transition

April 18, 2023

Twitter

MSP 501

The industry's largest and most comprehensive partner awards program.

Newsletters and Updates

Sign up for The Channel Report, Channel Futures Update, MSP 501 Newsletter and more.

Live Channel Events

Get the latest information on the next industry-leading Channel Partners event.

Galleries

Educational slide shows and images from live events.

Media Kit And Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • Channel Partners Events
  • Telecoms.com
  • MSP 501
  • Black Hat
  • IoT World Today
  • Omdia

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter

FOLLOW Channel Futures ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X