BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) used to be the smartphone market leader and was the life and soul of the bankers for whom the security matters the most which no rival could provide. Bankers are facing a dilemma whether or not to extend their partnerships with BlackBerry as they face with the need to shift to the latest version of the enterprise software from the Canadian firm, reports Gulfnews.
Nick Russell, principal adviser in KPMG’s CIO Advisory team says, “If BlackBerry doesn’t stop the dripping away of business, it will become a [relic of a] forgotten era.”
Offering free upgrade to woo corporates
Most of the major financial services providers gave a lot of importance to BlackBerry devices as they considered those to be the safest and most reliable, but since the company is not doing well since long, the faith of the bankers seems to fade away, and it’s a challenge for BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) to sustain it. Therefore, to retain the clients BlackBerry is offering free upgrades.
As part of its “EZ Pass” offer, BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is offering the upgrade to the corporate customers for free until next year. This happened soon after the corporate customers started raising queries to mobile operators regarding other options available in market. The service will soon become paid as Blackberry has plans of charging for the same, but before that happens they need to be confident that customers are willing to pay for it.
High hopes from BES 12
Apart from new flagship devices like the Passport and Classic, the company has high hopes attached to the BES 12 software, and the turnaround CEO John Chen believes that it will help in turning the company’s fortunes. He believes that the company will soon turn profitable. The upgrade to BES 12 is an attempt by the company to return to its business roots as the last attempt made by BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) was not so successful and it could not gain back its share from the rivals like Apple, who are dominating the market at present.
A CCS Insight analyst, Nick McQuire, too believes that the said software is crucial for the company’s future as the company has shifted its focus from devices to software.
