John Chen, the CEO of BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), started with the turn-around plans last year. He has successfully directed the first phase of its plan. Chen said that now the focus will be on profitability. Also, BlackBerry will not rush to launch too many devices.
Initiation of plan
Chen became the CEO of BlackBerry in November 2013. He joined the mobile technology company at a time when BlackBerry was facing problem of declining sales and market share in the competitive industry. He initiated with several measures to bring the company back on track. BlackBerry entered into new deals to lower manufacturing costs, it launched new app offering, and it sold assets to ensure liquidity and even generated funds by selling its Waterloo’s real estate holdings. At one time the survival of BlackBerry was in question, and now today the focus is back on profitability.
The game-changer
Chen can be better called as a fixer for the struggling mobile technology company. He is known for turning around the struggling companies. Prior to BlackBerry, Chen successfully rescued Sybase, Inc. and sold it to SAP SE (ADR) (NYSE:SAP) for $5.8 billion in 2010. Chen wants to repeat the history and even believes that the worst is over for BlackBerry. He took hold of the company when it was losing more than $1 billion.
The future ahead
Chen is confident that Blackberry will successfully survive as a leading mobile technology company. Everything from supply chains, cash to inventories and expenses are well under control. After survival, it is the time to take measures to ensure growth in the coming years. In a year, BlackBerry has regained a part of its lost ground. It is acquiring small firms, hiring new employees and investing in growth.
The concerns
Despite the developments made last year, the analysts are not sure about the company’s profitability. Out of the 37 analysts, 25 have got a ‘hold’ rating on BlackBerry and just one analyst has got a ‘buy’ rating on the mobile technology company. The concern area is demand for BlackBerry products. Chen is trying to spur growth with the launch of new devices. It launched the BlackBerry Passport and now is ready to launch the new model BlackBerry Classic next month. It will also launch BES 12 mobile device management platform for companies and government agencies.
