Having “Survived,” BlackBerry Now Looking At Growth

Things weren’t looking too good for BlackBerry last year. The company decided to put itself up for sale but there was thin interest from potential suitors. It wrote down inventory worth billions because the Q10 and Z10 didn’t perform as well as the company would have wanted. Late last year BlackBerry received a billion-dollar cash injection which brought about change in the top management. Under new CEO John Chen the company has stabilized and now looks at growth.

That’s the aim Chen had in mind when he took over the reins of BlackBerry in November last year. The first step was to stop BlackBerry from burning cash and then figure out how it would stay relevant in the market without having to give up its hardware business.

BlackBerry already turned a surprise quarterly profit earlier this year. Its new device lineup has performed relatively well, with the BlackBerry Passport actually selling out in multiple markets. In an interview with Reuters, CEO John Chen says that “BlackBerry has survived, now we have to start looking at growth.”

BlackBerry is targeting FY16 to return to profitability. Chen says that once they’re fully back in the green, “I will do everything I can to never lose money ever again,” adding that “That is definitely something I am very focused on doing.”

As far as the company’s device roadmap for next year is concerned, improvements to the Passport and Classic are expected, as well as the Z3 which has performed well in emerging markets. A completely new device is on the cards as well though Chen isn’t giving up any hints about what to expect from the company in 2015.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: BlackBerry, John Chen