BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) could be seen as struggling in smartphone business from the customers point of view, but the enterprise solution and loyal customers of the company have kept it going through the tough times. Taking the case study of Mercedes F1 Team it can be well explained why the company is not dead as yet.
BlackBerry more than just a sponsor of Mercedes F1 Team
There was a time when BlackBerry devices were the favorite across the world, and now things have changed drastically. Now, the company is also under criticism for the unique square-shaped device Passport it recently released and the shape has been called weird by many analysts. Passport and BlackBerry OS 10 may not be good options for average smartphone users, but these products and the infrastructure are a necessity.
The sponsorship with Mercedes F1 Team was announced by BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) in the beginning of last year, at a time when both the companies were catching up with rivals. However, BlackBerry’s role was of more than that of just a sponsor.
More than 200 BlackBerry devices are used by the Mercedes F1 Team and those include BlackBerry Z10s, Q10s, Z30s and Passports. Not only this, the team even used the Blackberry Enterprise server (BES10) as this system is considered as integral to the day to day running of the business.
Passport replaces Mac
Toto Wolff, the head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport uses three BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) devices and says that he cannot manage his personal and professional lives without those devices. Wolff’s new Passport device delivers superior performance with the spectacular screen and keyboard, and has replaced his MacBook.
Mercedes wants the information about their next year car to remain a secret, and hence the security means a lot to them and with BlackBerry devices in hand they can be sure of it. “For us as a business, security is as important as the performance of the car, because otherwise we give away that performance to other people,” said Matt Harris, IT director at Mercedes.
He also told that the device does not allow copying and pasting between the personal and work sides on the operating system and hence, those two can be kept completely separate. Also, the BES 10 allows them to work conveniently on the job of making the car faster as it provides encryption and has thousands of servers installed globally.
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