Last Ditch Effort To Save The Sinking Ship: BBRY Slashed Priv’s Price

The Canadian smartphone maker is witnessed a slow year with a decline in its stock price and decline in Priv’s sale; to spice things up the company decided to slash the price of its latest android based smartphone.

Blackberry Ltd has seen a rough start to the current year as the stock of the smartphone maker has declined by as much as 21% as the company is still making efforts with a struggling hardware business. Re/Code has reported that the Canadian smartphone maker has slashed the price of its Priv, android powered smartphone to $649 while initially the phone was being sold at a price of $699.

At the time of Blackberry Priv’s launch, many had though that the price was a bit out of boundary given that it was no longer a leader in the smartphone industry nor had it ever launched a phone that was android based. However, during its initial months we believe the product did fairly well in the market, as it was sold out at most stores plus it was competing at Google’s and Apple’s level. We do believe that even this slashed in the price is not justified by the former smartphone leader; however it does put it in par with other flagship smartphones.

According to the recent earnings report, BBRY managed to sell around 600,000 units in total which is a fewer than expected number however this current price slash seems like the last effort made on the company’s part to save the sinking ship. Initially the chief executive officer John Chen had stated that in case the device fails to do well in the market, the company will exit the smartphone industry and direct its focus towards its security software.

This current situation that can be seen via the latest earnings report suggests that the handset business future and profitability seem rather grim. The CEO again mentioned last week that if the handset business did not generate profit for Blackberry, it would completely shut that division down.

Before 2007, Blackberry was one of the leading companies in the smartphone industry; everyone wanted to get their hands on a Blackberry Bold or Curve and everyone wanted to be on BBM. However, with the advent of Steve Job’s iPhone, BBRY slowly and gradually started to lose its market share. The reason for its failure in the smartphone market was mostly due to its reluctance to keep pace with competition as well as technology. But with the launch Android based Priv, the company proved that it can (after a long period of nine years) keep pace with technology and provide the customers with exactly what they are looking for.

Furthermore, in an interview with Bloomberg, John Chen stated that its latest product’s distribution model needed a revision due to which the there was a delay in the launch of the product. In addition to that he said that the organization will need to sell as many as three million units yearly in order to make the company’s hardware business profitable.

As per the recent rumors, BBRY is planning on launching two new android based smartphone in mid-price range however launch dates for these products have not been announced as yet. Since these will be mid-range priced phone, the company will need to sell extra units to cover its lower average selling price.

 

 

 

BlackBerry Chooses Google’s Android

BlackBerry Limited, back in its days, was the market leader in the smartphone industry. In fact, the company was the pioneer of smartphones and first gave the concept of how a smartphone should be like. It initiated the process of proper smartphone and business smartphones that captivated a major chunk of the market. However with the passage of time, BlackBerry smartphones started to become obsolete. And with the introduction of Apple’s iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones in the market, BlackBerry was nowhere to be seen. It failed to keep up with the pace of them.

For a very long time, the company is trying to revamp its business and make a comeback entry and repay its loyal customers with the best, however, it still cannot compete against Apple and Samsung and the major chunk of market is with these brands. Also, the BlackBerry OS is becoming obsolete which is another main cause of the failure. There were rumors about latest Blackberry news, regarding a possible acquisition by Samsung of BlackBerry which will help it to revamp its BlackBerry smartphone business.

Samsung would have opted to run and operate BlackBerry phones on Android that would have been easier for the market to experiment. However, the latest additions from the company still operate on its own unique operating system. Now many sources are stating that the company has jumped into Google’s Android smartphone market. The company officials previously stated that they are interested in making smartphones that will run on Android OS. However there was one condition set by the CEO, John Chen, as he stated that the company will only make Android powered smartphones if it is capable to make them secure enough for its users.

This was the last statement from BlackBerry regarding its possible entry in the Android market, according to latest Blackberry updates. Now, it is found out that the company is already registered with the domain names including ‘androidsecured.net’ and ‘androidsecured.com’.

Sources suggest, “If you look up the details for androidsecured.com, you will find that the domain names have been registered through the domain registrar MarkMonitor, and that the domain name is actually owned by BlackBerry Ltd.” This might be that the company can now make secured smartphones that will run on Android. However, all of these are only speculations as the company has not yet confirmed it or made it official that it makes Android powered smartphones as of yet.

Furthermore, it is believed that the company might come up with at least two smartphones that will be powered by Android in this year.

 

Blackberry India’s Managing Director Resigns

 

The Canadian phone manufacturer, Blackberry, has suffered from a setback, as it’s Indian management head has left the organization.

The Canadian phone manufacturer, BlackBerry, has suffered from a setback, as its Indian management head has left the organization. BlackBerry news reported that the company’s managing director, Sunil Lalvani, has quit. It is revealed that he would soon join ‘greener pastures’.

Director Corporate Communications and Social Media for BlackBerry, Varghese Thomas, has confirmed that Mr. Sunil has stopped working and the company is thankful for his services.

BlackBerry news today informed that Matthew Tonkin would soon replace Sunil as an interim head of the company’s operations in the second most populated country. The organization would later appoint a permanent head soon. Market sources have further informed that the managing director could not be accessed for discussing the new development.

Sunil has specialized in the high-tech fields of business technology and enterprise, and maintained good relations with leaders of business organizations, as stated by BlackBerry breaking news. Since 2009, he has been serving the interests of the North American organization.

The ex-employee has worked for a number of other companies as well, including Nokia Corporation, Cisco, Global Telesystems, and SITA-Equant. He was one of those officials who had successfully comprehended the phone market of the South Asian country.

In a press conference held a few weeks ago, the company’s former MD stated that the business was successfully maximizing revenues from the sales of softwares. He added that its BES 12 had lured enterprises. Industry experts believe that the resignation of the senior official, who worked in the organization, would create management problems for BlackBerry.

The departure of Mr. Sunil is not the only shocking news for the phonemaker, as it has recently suffered from the failure of its Storm smartphone. Its new modern product has failed due to its inability to compete with the hardware and software updates of the Apple’s iphone. It is expected that Sunil’s decision would influence the motivation levels of the manufacturer’s workforce in the Indian territory.

Mr. Tonkin should now take significant steps to manage the device manufacturer’s operations in the South Asian country. The company is known for its reputation and credibility in the market, with a potential to compete among the corporate behemoths.

The corporate giant should now carefully appoint a permanent official for heading its Indian division; otherwise, it might suffer from a loss of Indian enterprise market share. It is probable that the company would soon announce the name of its new head of Indian operations.

 

 

Blackberry Acquires WatchDox

 

Blackberry would soon purchase WatchDox in attempts to improve the services, as both would benefit from the transaction.

Blackberry is about to acquire the California-based company, WatchDox. BlackBerry news has confirmed the transaction in near future but the financial terms of the deal have not been announced. The disclosure of the conditions would signify the prospects of the deal. Experts view that the acquisition would not only boost the sales of the manufacturer’s mobile safety offerings but also strengthen the research and development capabilities of the company. The purchased business currently operates a research and development center in the state of Israel.

Startup WatchDox is known for pioneering softwares that permit corporations to monitor the means by which their workers copy, print, edit, or transfer files. Its technology is also capable of deleting the files stored in a number of devices, which include BlackBerrys, Google powered Android phones, and iPhones of Apple. One could say that the acquired organization is specialized in the field of ‘monitoring and controlling’ the employees.

The corporate giant had previously purchased the German organization, Secusmart. BlackBerry news today estimates its price to be $82,000,000. Industry sources have informed that both ‘purchases’ would improve the potential of the Canadian manufacturer, as a number of security features would be added to its services, which include secure information, secure messaging, secure voice, and secure files.

Blackberry breaking news affirmed that the management believes the sales of smartphones and mobile security features would contribute to the growth of the company, which has previously failed to compete with a number of corporations, such as Apple and Samsung Electronics. Telecommunication experts believe that the deal could attract a huge number of conventional enterprise customers who had rejected the company’s outdated safety technology earlier. A number of corporations, such as Citrix Systems Inc. and Mobile Inc., had attracted the customers.

The Chief Executive Officer of WatchDox, Moti Rafalin, has stated that its counterpart in the deal would provide market access to the company. This statement indicates that both the firms have equally benefitted from the transaction. The collaboration between both businesses would not only secure the information of a large number of users but also speed up the recovery of the phone manufacturer, as the sales of Blackberry have declined by more than 30% in the quarter of the year.

Experts believe that the business should take a number of measures to ensure the recovery of lost market share. The integration would soon improve the selling abilities of both. Now, it is yet to be seen that to what extent the acquisition is able to serve the interests of both ‘entities’ and their customers.

 

 

Blackberry launches Secu tablet “Spy roof”

 

Blackberry launches Secu tablet for securing the data of it’s customers

The Canadian based wireless equipment company Blackberry introduced its Secutablet “Spy proof device”. This high tech device has been pioneered with the help of Samsung and IBM. The Canadian phone manufacturer  has been observed by many as one with falling popularity, but the phone manufacturer has taken the decision to make its presence felt in the telecommunication market.

According to latest Blackberry news, the Secutablet is the combination of software and hardware of three companies. In order to protect applications containing confidential information the device employs Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.5 with Secusmart micro SD card and IBM softwares. These softwares play their role in making sure that the sensitive information is shielded from malicious attacks.

According to BlackBerry news, this shield permits the equipment to operate personal applications such without the threat from malicious attacks. The Canadian phone maker predicts to sell approximately 10,000 units yearly at a price of $2,360 a piece. The secure tablet is being supplied to businesses and governments.

The senior management consultant of IBM Stefan Hefter says that the newly launched product would be able to satisfy those who require bigger screens without violations of security. The Chief Executive Officer of Secusmart Hans-Christoph Quelle says that the security system is installed in each and every part of this high tech invention, which encompasses data encryption and voice solutions.

Government customers have relied on Secusmart security cards for years, and these same security cards would be employed to protect this newly launched product of Blackberry. The German company Secusmart has been providing  BlackBerry designed smart phones with this security software since 2013 but this will be the first time that this security software would be utilized for tablets.

This high tech invention is still waiting for the approval of the German Federal office for Information security, but it is forecasted that the product would be introduced in the market by next year. This is not the first tablet manufactured by the Canadian based phone maker. In 2011, the manufacturer introduced the Blackberry Playbook. The production of that tablet was later stopped due to falling sales. The company may launch PlayBook 2 for ordinary consumers, according to the news.

One of the most interesting aspects of this newly pioneered secure device is that three different telecommunications companies Blackberry, Samsung and IBM have employed various resources to make sure that the information of their customers gets shielded in the best possible manner. It is expected that the Secutablet would play an important role in making sure that the lives of its users become much easier.