BlackBerry CEO John Chen recently discussed their plans to win back declining market share in the smartphone market. On Monday, while speaking from the sidelines of the Milken Institute Global Conference, Chen said the company plans to provide more security, privacy and increasing productivity with its upcoming devices.
BlackBerry planning “cool phones”
Chen, during an interview with CNBC’s Fast Money Halftime Report, said, “I’m not at liberty to tell you what we’re doing beyond the Amazon apps, but we’re working hard at it … something [is] brewing.” BlackBerry’s CEO said there are opportunities in the market, and the mantra is to come up with the “next cool phones.”
Also Chen confirmed that the upcoming “slider” device, which was unveiled at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), will start shipping by the end of the year. The two other devices, the Porsche Design “Keian” and perhaps the “Oslo,” though not discussed during the interview, may not be launched this year.
Working on its “Achilles heel”
Chen said there is a great demand for enterprise apps, and the most prominent among those are the ones related with healthcare and the Internet of Things. And this is what the company’s focus will be going forward.
The BlackBerry CEO feels the company lags competitors in terms of apps, and this has been its “Achilles’ heel” in the last few years. Chen plans to tackle the issue and has two things on his mind in this regard. He feels that the time has come for the introduction of next-generation apps, and the company is working on this, saying they “don’t want to just kind of play in the old game.”
Along the same lines, a few months ago BlackBerry released an adjustment to allow users access Android apps through the Amazon Appstore. At that time, the Canadian firm claimed that the change would allow users to enjoy over 200,000 new apps on BlackBerry handsets.Along with the new revelations, Chen also repeated earlier comments about revenue growth, returning to profitability and reaching financial stabilization in the next three to four quarters.
On Tuesday, BlackBerry shares closed up 1.46% at $10.39, while year to date, the stock is down by almost 6%.
