Bottom Line: Bailing out a sinking ship
BLACKBERRY’S turnaround is seeming less and less likely. Hardly a day passes without news of mounting losses or staff cuts at the struggling Canadian firm.
Gil Amelio, Apple’s chief executive during the company’s struggles in the early 90s, once said, “Apple is like a ship with a hole in the bottom leaking water, and my job is to get the ship pointed in the right direction.”
The sentiment is one I’m sure is felt around BlackBerry these days.
It’s remarkable that only three short years ago BlackBerry posted its highest quarterly device shipments ever, at over 14m. These days the company will be lucky to find a sympathetic buyer with the courage (and wallet) to keep it afloat.
The fumbled rollout of BBM on Android and iOS this weekend makes one wonder if the once-great company is even able to deliver a good app, let alone a compelling smartphone.