BlackBerry posts fourth-quarter profit; seeks to end revenue slide | Hacker News Reader

BlackBerry posts fourth-quarter profit; seeks to end revenue slide

reuters.com

39 pointspmcpinto29 comments

I just watched a recent interview with the CEO. The interviewer asked why doesn't BlackBerry get out of hardware. Chen responded that the reason is two fold: 1. Their hardware is profitable and represents a significant chunk of their revenue. If they weren't making money with it, he'd get out. 2. Their devices allow them provide the end to end security solutions that their government and enterprise customers need.

They seem like they're on the right track and will continue to post profitable, cashflow positive quarterly results. I'm interested to see how they monetize BBM. I'm interested to see how quickly they gain share in other niches ( healthcare/insurance specifically).

Isn't this known as a "death spiral". Try to cut expenses faster than revenue is dropping, until there's nothing left. I don't see any good news here, and don't imagine that BB will exist as an independent company by next year. They do have some good technology and I'm sure it won't be hard to sell the assets.

They sold 1.6M smartphones. That means that most probably they will probably cease to be a hardware company in 2016.

Who's using them? What market? I have not seen a Blackberry in years. I saw a picture of a guy with that new square-ish one and that's about it.

Canadians. Lots of brand loyalty up here. Anecdotally, I see iPhones and Galaxy S/Note most frequently, and then Blackberry is about as common as any other smartphone model.

There are still people who have not been converted to iOS/Android/Windows devices. Yesterday they had a Blackberry and tomorrow they want a Blackberry. But their numbers are dwindling.

Blackberry's current success comes from selling these people exactly what they want; an upgrade from their current model that is almost the same in form and function. When someone wants a different form and function they go to an iPhone or an Android.

I have the new Blackberry Passport: http://ca.blackberry.com/smartphones/blackberry-passport/ove.... It's easily the best smartphone I've ever owned and the best Blackberry has come out with.

You'll be seeing and hearing a lot more about Blackberry. I can assure you that.

What other phones have you owned? The passport get's a general feeling of "meh" from anyone, including existing Blackberry users, who use it.

Former iOS and Android user here. Never had a "meh" by people noticing me with this phone, rather genuine interest. As far as using it is concerned, it has its quirks, but I left iOS and Android because I feel they had much of those, too. At least Blackberry's trying something different, and features such as the Hub, the advanced multitasking and the 2-day battery life are a nice change.

Many business people around here (city in Canada) have them. And they do look pretty sweet. Big square Phablet screen with a physical keyboard, plus all the touch features you'd expect.

Blackberry Classic is great!

I switched from an iPhone to a Passport last fall, and have been very happy with it overall. I am a consumer, so this is just for personal use. My reasons for switching were:

1. Real keyboard. I carried the iPhone for 3 years and never liked the soft keyboard. Most of my usage is text entry (messaging and email), so being able to do this quickly and accurately matters. I much prefer text entry on the Passport, both because I find it easier and more accurate, and I don't give up half the screen to the soft keyboard.

2. Dev / unix tools. It might be a bit surprising, but the BB10 dev kit is actually pretty good: Several API options; no barriers to getting started (download and go); and you can access / expose / augment the unix userland underneath. With a command line app, it feels like a real computer. The keyboard makes this experience better.

Since switching, I have also been pleasantly surprised by the size and quality of the screen - 1440x1440 is kind of awesome (more pixels than my laptop). Blend has also been unexpectedly good.

Anyway, that's me and my reasons. I'm just a unix nerd in the consumer market. I'm not into flashing ROMs or jailbreaking or anything like that, and I find the BlackBerry keyboard lineup pretty compelling. YMMV.

I would buy a Passport if there was strong privacy/security/policy isolation between Android apps and data on the phone. Something like what Cyanogen does, by faking blank data (e.g. contacts) in response to apps which insist on having permission to access contacts.

I believe they're still widely used in government.

Blackberry seem to have the finances to sponsor Mercedes F1, that cannot be cheap, however it probably points to their future with QNX in the automotive world.

Marketing is not an optional expense that companies engage in only when they make a profit. The withdrawal of such spending, especially during tough times, sends negative signals to their markets that might have produce more losses of income than the losses from mere diminished branding and exposure.

The Mercedes sponsorship was deal was completed by the previous management team at BB.

It was probably the best "marketing deal" that BB made at a reported $12M year for 3 years[1].

1] http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d6695dde-6ef4-11e2-b6da-00144feab4...

also noteworthy, is that this wasn't just a 'marketing deal' per se but an "enterprise partnership"

The Mercedes F1 team runs its business on BB hardware and software.

"The Mercedes F1 Team uses more than 200 BlackBerrys including Blackberry Z10s, Q10s, Z30s and Passports. It's these along with BlackBerry Enterprise Sever 10 (BES10) which seem integral to the day-to-day running of the business."

They need to get iphones.

An iPhone doesn't replace a Blackberry if you really need a Blackberry. You also can't run a car (minus the entertainment system) off of iOS like you can QNX.

What amazes me is that I do not know this already. With other IT in F1 concerns - e.g. Tata group a few years ago - you hear all about it. But with Blackberry? Not a thing. How hard can it be to write in interesting story?

Anyway, thanks for the info.

Is there any manufacturer left besides BB that builds qwerty-phones?

"smartphone qwerty keyboard 2015" gives me http://www.phonerated.com/android_phones_with_keyboard-listb... "2015+ Android Smartphones With A Slide-out QWERTY Keyboard", which includes the LG Optimus F3Q, so the answer to that question is yes.

The F3Q is incredibly mediocre, but it's the best we'll get for quite some time.

The dearth of decent android QWERTY phones is enough to make me consider switching to BB. I don't need my phone to do that much, but typing well is the difference between a toy that plays games and runs Facebook, and a useful tool that I can type emails on, ssh from, etc.

I'm curious to see how they do this. It doesn't appear that any of Blackberry's recent models have been a hit with consumers or enterprise.

John Chen does seem like the most level-headed exec in Blackberry's revolving door succession of CEOs, but with that said, I'm not sure what Blackberry can do to make itself an attractive alternative to iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone. It seems that Blackberry has essentially given up all of their market share, and what they need to do now is to essentially build their platform from scratch.

It's funny that you mentioned Windows Phone as an alternative.

The marketing pukes at Redmond are probably popping open the bubbly right now.

~~Posted from a Windows Phone~~

I really think they have found a really good, niche market, but they don't recognize it. They seem, BBRY, to have it backwards. They seem to be chasing enterprise, but enterprise, doesn't understand the value proposition of the product. BBRY is not a handset only anymore, it's a software service which allows you to manage your mobile devices with a single unified view on all operating systems. Explain that to enterprise is near impossible.

What BBRY needs to do is focus on the consultants/contractors, get them to run their own/hosted BES service, with work/personal separation. Let me have as many numbers, with different work spaces and personal spaces.

> "It doesn't appear that any of Blackberry's recent models have been a hit with consumers or enterprise."

Does it matter? The article suggests that they're switching their business model to be more software-focused, which is a smart move. QNX is definitely a great asset, a stable, POSIX-compliant, real-time OS, that can run on anything from embedded systems upwards. There are tons of potential applications for QNX.

"seeks to end revenue slide"

Aren't we all.

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