Struggling BlackBerry just cannot seem to catch a break – according to CNet, the once pride of Canada saw losses totaling $4.4 billion last quarter compared with only a loss of $965 million the previous quarter, and they only sold 1.9 million smartphones last quarter, down from 3.7 million the previous quarter. These figures are bad enough, but when you compare them to last year’s Q3 sales of 6.9 million units and sales of $2.72 billion – hard times continue to plague BlackBerry.
If there are any bright spots, more than 40 million iOS and Android users have registered their BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) app over the past 60 days and more than a dozen different Android vendors plan on preloading BBM on their devices. BlackBerry has always relied on it Enterprise Solutions for profits and they claim that more than 30,000 BB Enterprise Service 10 severs have been installed to date, which is up from 25,000 in September. Recently installed BlackBerry Chairman and CEO John Chen said in a statement.
“With the operational and organizational changes we have announced, BlackBerry has established a clear roadmap that will allow it to target a return to improved financial performance in the coming year. While our Enterprise Services, Messaging and QNX Embedded businesses are already well-positioned to compete in their markets, the most immediate challenge for the Company is how to transition the Devices operations to a more profitable business model.”
BlackBerry just struck a new five-year deal with Foxconn to jointly develop and manufacture consumer smartphones to be sold in Indonesia and other emerging markets in early 2014. Chen said:
“This partnership demonstrates BlackBerry’s commitment to the device market for the long-term and our determination to remain the innovation leader in secure end-to-end mobile solutions. Partnering with Foxconn allows BlackBerry to focus on what we do best — iconic design, world-class security, software development and enterprise mobility management — while simultaneously addressing fast-growing markets leveraging Foxconn’s scale and efficiency that will allow us to compete more effectively.”
CEO John Chen was brought in after Thorsten Heins “stepped” aside and in an article we did on him in November, he seemed to be just the guy that BlackBerry needs to try to right their ship – it may not look like the BlackBerry that we once knew and loved, but at least it will continue to exist and possibly even prosper one year. He even hinted that producing an Android device was not off the table – a BlackBerry keyboard and Android OS, could be a good pairing.
Let us know on our Google+ Page if you would like to see BlackBerry make an Android device and the direction that BlackBerry is taking…we would love to discuss it with you.