BlackBerry is largely done with reinventing itself and is now adamant to pursue its newly created and revamped businesses, Chief Executive Officer John Chen told TheStreet on Monday. The Waterloo, Canada-based tech giant is no longer in any immediate danger and is not only enjoying some existing successes engineered by its talent and other assets but is also on the path of long-term sustainability, Mr. Chen suggested. His comments were made immediately after BlackBerry transitioned its stock to the New York Stock Exchange from NASDAQ as part of a move that its CEO deemed logical, noting how the majority of the firm’s current clients are listed in New York City. By moving to NYSE, BlackBerry is giving a major vote of confidence in regards to its existing partnerships, expecting that the majority of them will continue in the long term, the CEO suggested.
The BlackBerry name is still mostly present in all segments in which the company was operating during the pre-Chen era, including consumer electronics, but many of its existing endeavors are now license-based and handled by third parties. Smartphones are one example of that new approach, with BlackBerry-branded devices still being released on a regular basis even though they aren’t manufactured by the Canadian firm which is now only handling their software and occasionally collaborates with its licensees on their design, as was the case with the BlackBerry KEYone which was commercialized in the first half of the year. BlackBerry’s licensing revenue is now counted in tens of millions of dollars on a quarterly basis, with its performance in this segment being even more significant in light of the fact that a licensing business on this scale allows for extremely high profit margins.
The company is also doubling down on its strategy to provide security software and even started exploring opportunities in the emerging self-driving industry, having already delivered some infotainment solutions for experimental vehicles. In addition to enterprise software, BlackBerry is still maintaining its suite of consumer-oriented Android apps even though this endeavor is unlikely to yield significant income for the time being. The latest BlackBerry device debuted in the form of the BlackBerry Motion earlier this month and more Android smartphones are expected to be launched under the brand in the near future.