What does new CEO and staying public mean for BlackBerry?

[snowmutt]

Well, while I was sleeping today, the never ending drama of the mobile giant formerly known as RIM shifted again. Thorsten Hiens walked away from the head position of BlackBerry after the Fairfax Financial offer of 9$ a share to go private fell through due to being unable to secure financing. Hiens had very little chance of turning this around and I thought did a very good job getting some very good devices out running an excellent BB10 OS when BB was in complete free fall. But, he was never a long term solution, and now a board member named John Chen steps in with an "interm" in front of the three "CEO" letters, even though he says he is in this for the long haul and has a decent track record at other companies. He states flately that BB will continue to be a major player in mobile handsets, and that it will take "at least" 6 quarters to turn around the company.

The questions here abound:

-Is he the right man for the job, or another place holder (There is talkof a committee for a long term CEO being formed)?
-Do they stick with BB10, liscence it out, or... what? (Did I mention I love BB10?)
-Do they keep attempting to compete in the consumer market?
-Do they give up on the consumer market, and go all in on enterprise which is their strength and defend it like a rabid wolverine?
-Does WP gain at all from this continued instability? Or is WP needing to stand on it's own and take users from Anriod, iOS, and feature phones for it's continued growth?
-Am I the only one who likes BB10? And Blackberry pie? (Yum!!)

Like sands through the hour glass, so are the Days of Our Lives.... and BlackBerry....

 

[Laura Knotek]

They basically had no options. Fairfax couldn't get the funds, and no other buyers were interested.

Unfortunately, I think they will just continue burning cash, despite the fact that more cash got infused.

I see a sell off of pieces/parts of the company in the future.

Re: BB10, I tried it and found it to be the clunkiest, most unintuitive UI on a smartphone. I'm able to pick up iPhones or Androids in a store and figure out how to use them without any major problems. I had trouble figuring out the hub, the gestures, everything about BB10 (and I'm a former BBOS user). I had no desire to learn the UI, since it was so clunky it would require too much effort.

 

[snowmutt]

Giggling.....

No grey area there.... Laura is not a fan of the BB10!! :smile:

Burning cash is all but assured unless users come back. I do not think the Exodus has been as bad as it can be. BB needs an infusion of good PR more then money.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Giggling.....

No grey area there.... Laura is not a fan of the BB10!! :smile:

Burning cash is all but assured unless users come back. I do not think the Exodus has been as bad as it can be. BB needs an infusion of good PR more then money.

I actually liked the older BBOS' UI. It was not at all hard to use. I had a 9000 and a 9700, and I had no trouble navigating around on the devices or using them.

I really would like to see BB make a comeback, since more competition is better for consumers. I know a lot of people like BB10. It's just not for me.

 

[Elite1]

They basically had no options. Fairfax couldn't get the funds, and no other buyers were interested.

When BBRY announced this stuff, saying they had finished their review of alternative strategies and decided to stay public, I figured it was just BS.

But shockingly there have been two groups that have now said they were intending to make offers before BBRY's surprise announcement.
That's in addition to Lenovo, but supposedly the Canadian government planned to block any sale to Lenovo.

 

[Laura Knotek]

When BBRY announced this stuff, saying they had finished their review of alternative strategies and decided to stay public, I figured it was just BS.

But shockingly there have been two groups that have now said they were intending to make offers before BBRY's surprise announcement.
That's in addition to Lenovo, but supposedly the Canadian government planned to block any sale to Lenovo.

A sale to Lenovo would've made the US government drop BlackBerry devices and services like a hot potato.

 

[Elite1]

Re: BB10, I tried it and found it to be the clunkiest, most unintuitive UI on a smartphone. I'm able to pick up iPhones or Androids in a store and figure out how to use them without any major problems. I had trouble figuring out the hub, the gestures, everything about BB10 (and I'm a former BBOS user). I had no desire to learn the UI, since it was so clunky it would require too much effort.

They were about 4 swiping gestures someone needed to know before being able to use / navigate a BB10 phone. If you didn't know them, you were going to leave confused, if not frustrated, from your first BB10 encounter.

Since then, BB10 has had a few updates already that refine the UX for a first timer.

Most importantly, there are now some unobtrusive yet intuitive graphics showing you which swipe to do if either (a) it's a new or demo device, or (b) you ever try common incorrect gestures.
Ex. Tap on the Lock screen and a little arrow graphic shows you to swipe up.

Ironically, WP looks like the clunkiest UI to me of the 4 major platforms, with the primary colour squares everywhere.
Before anyone jumps down my throat: I am very ignorant of most WP features and UI elements other than the Metro home screen. Unfortunately I just don't know anyone with one, as I'd really like some hands-on time guided by someone who's really used one. I have one local client with one whom I rarely see in person, and otherwise Laura is the only other person I "speak" to that has one. They don't seem very popular in Vancouver for whatever reason.

Personally I just hope that both BB10 and WP at least have a shot with people before they make a smartphone purchase. The biggest challenge for both is that most consumers seemingly haven't even touched one.

 

[Elite1]

A sale to Lenovo would've made the US government drop BlackBerry devices and services like a hot potato.

Exactly! And not just them either.