Blackberry Ceases Hardware Division

Blackberry’s position in the smartphone market has been precarious for some time, and they’ve struggled to compete with Apple and a huge range of other manufacturers. Of course, the same predicament applies to Microsoft’s mobile division and encouraging developers to invest time into a platform with such a small market share is frankly, impossible. Eventually, Blackberry admitted defeat and launched the Priv, an Android handset designed to reverse their fortunes. Sadly, the handset didn’t meet sales targets and led to many reports of Blackberry dismissing their hardware division. After much speculation, this has finally been confirmed and a Blackberry statement reads:

“BlackBerry is no longer just about the smartphone, but the smart in the phone. Working with trusted partners to extend the reach and availability of our secure mobility software remains a key focus for the Mobility Solutions unit and this joint venture is just one of our next steps in making our software licensing strategy successful.”

“We remain on track to deliver 30 percent revenue growth in software and services for the full fiscal year. We are revising upward our non-GAAP EPS outlook to a range of breakeven to a five cent loss, compared to the current consensus of a 15 cent loss. This reflects increased confidence based on improving margins and reduced interest expense from the recent refinancing of our debt, as well as planned investments in growth areas.”

It’s a shame that Blackberry is no longer making handsets because they have such a vast history in the mobile sector. Saying that, this was inevitable and it makes sense for Blackberry to focus their efforts on something which can be profitable. Sadly, I can see many other companies following suit and ditching their mobile hardware divisions due to the amount of competition out there. In particular, from Chinese brands like Huawei who seem to be releasing premium products at surprisingly affordable prices.