BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) CEO John Chen is not in favor of hiring reality TV star Kim Kardashian as its celebrity spokeswoman, says a report from Bloomberg. Just last month, Kardashian showed her love for BlackBerry, saying that she has taken up the mission to make sure that the phones are still available.
Kardashian popular in consumer market
After professing her love for Blackberry phones, the media assumed that Kardashian could be the brand’s celebrity ambassador. However, Chen said outright that celebrities will not be on board. During an interview in Beijing at the APEC CEO summit, Chen said, “It’s not that it’s a waste of money, but a question of where you should spend the money today.” Chen said that his company is focusing on next-generation technology, which he said should be done on a priority basis.
After implementing his turnaround strategy for almost a year, the company is now stable from the financial point of view, and Chen is trying to jumpstart further growth prospects. He added that the consumer market where Kardashian is quite popular are not a priority as the Canadian Smartphone maker is more concerned with security, encryption and privacy for business and government clients.
Chen said that the consumer market is not a closed segment for BlackBerry, but it is definitely not the priority as of now. Chen said that the company could pose a strong comeback in the consumer market in the future, but other things are higher on the priority list.
BlackBerry on recovery path
John Chen joined BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) as the CEO last November, and since then has made great progress in turning the company around by cutting on costs and selling assets. According to Reuters, Chen is enthusiastic about phase two, i.e. generating profits. Chen said that BlackBerry has survived as a company and he is very confident about the future. He said that the company is effectively managing the supply chain, inventories, cash, and expenses are quite controlled.
In the fiscal second-quarter, BlackBerry posted a loss, but it was below the estimates. Revenue came in low, but the handset business of the company was profitable, on an adjusted basis, for the first time in five quarters. Reuters reported that Chen has shown extraordinary courage and capability to revive the company, but the market is very competitive, and the Canadian smartphone maker still has a number of challenges to face.
