BlackBerry’s current smartphone market share is extremely low, and this might lead you to think the company could shut down its hardware business soon. But that’s not the case. On Monday, speaking to FOXBusiness, BlackBerry CEO John Chen expressed his intention to offer complete end-to-end service and hardware is an indispensable part of it.
Handset business vital for BlackBerry’s strategy
Chen replaced Thorsten Heins about two years back as the CEO, and since then he has been involved in turnaround efforts for the company. Chen said that great efforts are being put forth to make the handset business profitable again.
When asked about the priority of the consumer business, the CEO replied “security, privacy and enterprise mobility management” are what they are best at, and would continue to keep those areas as priorities. Still, the company has many loyal customers who are very conscious about the security of their data, and rely on the BlackBerry handsets to provide it, noted Chen. This is an indication that CEO plans to keep the hardware business alive with a focus on the enterprise, and also serve dedicated customers who are fans of its safety and security features.
“There is an incredible opportunity for BlackBerry to capture a greater share of enterprise revenues and service those customers who depend on the enterprise-grade mobility solutions that we provide,” Chen said.
BlackBerry on track to hit goals
Devices running on the Android and iOS platforms have taken away a large pie of the smartphone market share, and it seems BlackBerry has accepted that competing against them is almost impossible. The only way BlackBerry can compete is by offering devices with the highest security and privacy features, which is a requirement from companies that want their employees to be more productive at the workplace. This could prove to be a growing niche market that is big enough for the company.
Owing to its security features, BlackBerry is the preferred device of the governments of all G7 countries and also of 16 of the G20 governments, Chen said, adding the Canadian company is continuously working on making data more secure and private, and therefore, continues to innovate.
FOXBusiness also inquired about acquisition possibilities, since the firm has been linked with several other players in the market like Lenovo, Samsung and recently with Microsoft. Like good CEO should, Chen replied vaguely that the financial condition of the company is reasonable, and it is on track to meet its goals.
