BlackBerry Mulls Putting Itself up for Sale

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-12/blackberry-forms-board-committee-to-explore-options.html

 

Well, to me, Blackberry is so dot-commish. From an era long gone. The longer they wait the less money they'll recoup.

 

I dont know but i feel they got fed up with their success a few years ago and didn't expect Android/Apple to make such a huge hit.

 

It's been a long time coming, there's no surprise there. Android and Apple certainly have trounced any competition, but they aren't the sole reason for Blackberry being near death.

 

Blackberry isn't doing as bad as the market is claiming. That said they should go private, and lease there IP out. They will make far more money now as a security solutions company then a phone company. Heck they can even do both. The issue is blackberry was huge during a time when the competition was flip phones. Now everyone can make a smartphone they can't match it. They are playing the wrong game now.

 

I use blackberry. I don't want to touch my screen. I hate touching my screen, please don't force me to touch the screen.

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-10/blackberry-falls-after-eliminating-60-sales-jobs.html

 

I love the tactile feel of REAL buttons also, but the trend is moving on sadly...looking at the 1000s of smart phones and touch screens, I think we maybe forced to move on also

 

What did they expect? The market was already saturated. They really should have thought about something like this from day 1 of the iPhone release.You keep marketing to those that want physical touch buttons and produce a secondary line to tap into the smartphone market. Secondly, the hype and advertising around their product wasn't very noticeable. Most of the folks that I've talked too learned about it because online tech articles and YouTube. I wasn't terribly turned off by the operating system or the feel of the new phones. It feels like one of those awkward moments, when your estranged family offers to teach you to drive or something, and you've had your license already for three years. You have to ask, how did you not know that I already have a smartphone? Why didn't you market to me before? Companies that are slow to change and slow to adapt die.

 

Security was their most marketable asset but they went for sizzle. Unfortunately the sizzle ended up drizzle and it cost them big time. Blackberry shares are headed for junk status and if that happens it will benefit companies like Microsoft as they are buying their way into the mobile space. If the company is broken into smaller parts I would not be surprised to see MS at the fire sale eyeing BBM.

The company should have been split up years ago and the hardware/software side sold off (even at a loss). The data services side of Blackberry could have opened itself up to all mobile devices which may have led to a very profitable business for them.

 

I have hyper sensitivity in my fingertips so touching a screen and swiping like that literally feel painful to me. I guess It may be time for me to buy some Japanese flip phone lol.

Marketing wise, the reason for me blackberry is failing is the fact that almost no company that makes software for smartphones wishes to support blackberry. I cant even get a VPN on my blackberry, that's how bad it is. I was surprised when drop-box worked as barely any company cares to build software for the java based blackberry device and just opt for Iphone/Android which sucks.

 

Not having sensitive fingertips, but my fingers are pretty huge so touch screen is really not the way to go. Yet I need a pocket friendly mobile phone with a long battery life. Really helpful if you're travelling and spend your days in a bus.

They're still in production? I thought they were extinct.

 

Japanese market never stopped producing them. In Japan they kind of shun western brands and thus the Japanese brands cater to flip phone users which are like a hybrid of a smart phone and a flip phone.

 

http://allthingsd.com/20130916/will-blackberry-be-sold-for-parts/

 

http://allthingsd.com/20130918/blackberry-to-slash-its-workforce-by-up-to-40-percent/

 

http://allthingsd.com/20130920/blackberry-shares-halted/?mod=atd_homepage_carousel

 

http://allthingsd.com/20130923/blackberrys-selling-off-its-corporate-jets/

 

Sad to see that for unbelievable big mistakes by incompetent management many people are losing their job.

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...ppointed-in-results-as-it-pursues-buyout.html

 

The Gartner group is now telling businesses to explore alternatives.

http://blogs.wsj.com/canadarealtime...ses-abandon-blackberry-gartner-has-an-answer/

 

A company with no debt, millions of users, lots of cash and on the chopping block. From a business point of view it makes no sense, however the smartphone market is a throw away and replace at any cost market. The shiniest and the most youth appealing wins the day. Pundits with a possible bias have determined that his full page add is akin to a Monty Python sketch ... the Knight getting getting his limbs cut off insisting that he is not dead yet. Others see it as the dead parrot sketch ... he is not dead, just resting. Orders are still streaming in for the BB10, mostly for its encryption capabilities. Business still likes BB, however it is not the Business owners who camp out overnight to buy the latest upgrade, no matter how insignificant the upgrade. BB should have gone for a 'rent a mop' to get positive news coverage rather than a full page add in a newspaper (the youth do not read paper based products ... dude!)

 

A company with a constantly shrinking number of users, a tiny portion of the market share it used to have, burning through cash at a billion per quarter rate, etc.

 

You are right...3% now. It has to be 5%+ to be viable. Management has failed miserably, however there will be a golden parachute for the guys at the top. Failure will be substantially rewarded.