BlackBerry is far from a hopeless company but the Ontario-based firm has definitely seen better days. Most of its current woes are related to its hardware business which simply isn’t making any money, which is why the Canadian company recently shifted its focus to software and various enterprise technological solutions. BlackBerry’s fortunes improved after that change in strategy and the company’s chief executive officer John Chen is now claiming that he has completed two-thirds of his long-term turnaround plan and that better times are ahead for the Canadian tech giant.
Speaking to BBN on Monday, Chen pointed out that BlackBerry invested more than a billion dollars in non-hardware business and is now ready to reap the fruits of these business endeavors as it will soon start offering more management software solutions to governments and enterprises. However, Chen expressed surprise and disappointment with the company’s falling domestic support as he feels that the BlackBerry brand is not only “iconic” but that it also represents the very history of the Canadian tech industry and innovation achievements. The executive that has been heading the Ontario-based firm since 2013 concluded that everyone would win if Canadians showed more support for the firm, asserting that a healthy BlackBerry would not only help the country’s economy but also “the Canadian mindset”.
Unfortunately, Chen didn’t reveal the future of BlackBerry’s hardware business on this occasion despite being specifically asked about it. The company’s CEO is set to unveil last quarters’ earnings report tomorrow and several sources claimed that he’ll use that opportunity to also announce the closure of the firm’s hardware division. Of course, even if that happens, the BlackBerry brand likely wouldn’t disappear from the smartphone industry as evidenced by the recently released BlackBerry DTEK50 which is basically a rehashed Alcatel Idol 4 manufactured by TCL, Alcatel’s parent company. And while tomorrow’s earnings report is expected to confirm the upcoming turnaround that Chen talked about yesterday, a BlackBerry that’s focused solely on software and rebranding phones from other manufacturers still isn’t likely to be as successful as the BlackBerry which held 41% of the US phone market in 2009. For comparison, its market share today is smaller than 1%.