BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is undergoing rapid transformation under the new CEO John Chen, but in order to bring the company back on the track, the new chief will get less time than the previous CEO Thorstein Heins, says a report The Wall Street Journal.
Chen shuffles management
Chen ousted three top-level executives and one board member just three weeks after taking up the role of CEO. Although shuffling of management is common upon the appointment of a new CEO, Chen took the step faster than usual indicating more and major changes ahead.
Chen reiterated that devices will play a vital part in BlackBerry’s future. At the same time, he also dismissed chief operating officer Kristian Tear and chief marketing officer Frank Boulben who were appointed by Thorsten Heins, and played a major role in the launch of the new operating system and family of devices. However, the new devices and operating system failed to revive the BlackBerry.
Chen has deep insight into enterprise software, which indicates what the company wants from him. Services are the major contributor in the revenue of BlackBerry as devices have failed to give it any cushion. According to the market watchers, BlackBerry could revive from the current lows by providing its services on other platforms like iOS and Android rather than keeping it limited to its own network.
Massive challenges ahead
In 2012, after Heins took the reins, BlackBerry was earning $4 billion in revenue, shipping more than 11 million smartphones per quarter and was generating around $1 billion in cash flow from operations. Since then, the revenue has come down to $1.6 billion and shipment has shrunk to 3.7 million with operations consuming over $136 million in cash.
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) may get some initial relief with Chen’s measures, but the efforts will hardly prove a turning point for BlackBerry, given the “magnitude of the challenge facing him,” says the WSJ report.
BlackBerry to make platform simpler
In a bid to expand its platform to other apps, BlackBerry has made it simpler for Android applications to operate on its latest smartphone. BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) has upgraded its platform to make it easier and reduce the number of steps required to get an app working on BlackBerry 10 operating system. Also, the company is planning to bring in a change that will run the Android apps without any change.
