What to do with Blackberry?
Smartphone maker BlackBerry will need to pull out of the handset and mobile OS markets if it is to survive, argues business consulting firm, Frost & Sullivan.
BlackBerry is set to go private in a $4.7 billion deal, following a $9 a share tentative offer from a consortium earlier this week, led by property and casualty insurer Fairfax Financial Holdings.
Ian Duvenage, ICT business unit leader at the Frost & Sullivan Africa Practice notes that BlackBerry lost nearly $1 billion last quarter, which means that taking the company private is really the only option left for the company.
“Going private will give the company room to reorganize away from the glare of the markets,” he said.
The analyst says that BlackBerry will no longer be a consumer company; but rather an enterprise security company focusing on one of the core components that differentiated them before. “In order to survive, BlackBerry will need to pull out of the handset and mobile OS markets,” he said.
F&S points out that before it overreached and attempted to compete in the consumer market, BlackBerry was the first choice for corporate IT departments.
However, Apple and Android manufacturers, especially Samsung, have improved their enterprise offerings of late, with BlackBerry no longer the default option for enterprise. “If BlackBerry is to survive, it will need to go back to its roots, and hope that it is not too late,” Duvenage said.
F&S argues that BlackBerry still has a strong brand around the world, an industry-leading security system, and relationships with many of the world’s largest companies.
“By focusing on BlackBerry Enterprise Services and trying to keep the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) platform alive, and making these services available across all platforms and devices, the company can continue to exist albeit in a much smaller form,” Duvenage said.
This will enable corporate IT department to better manage the needs of their employees with devices they want, with the well known security and control provided by BlackBerry, the analyst says.
With Nokia retreating into network communications equipment, and BlackBerry to move into enterprise security services, the two biggest names in consumer mobile phones just five years ago are no longer, the business consulting firm says.
“The technology industry has always moved at a rapid pace, but the speed at which companies can rise and fall has become dizzying,” Duvenage said.
More on BlackBerry
BlackBerry sale an extension, not a solution
Break-up the only way for BlackBerry – analysts
BlackBerry warned against consumer market retreat
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