Friday view: Is Blackberry back?
Apple might be grabbing all the attention, but Blackberry’s share price continues to rebound on a promising product pipeline
The first half of 2014 will be considered a dark time for BlackBerry. Sales continued to flag, an ugly falling out with T-Mobile cast doubt over the relationship with its major network and rumours of a potential acquisition by Apple – principally for its calendar and email software – would not abate. Negative stories continued to cast a shadow over the company and its share price, which once rode as high as $144 in its 2008 heyday, slumped to $7.1.
The writing appeared to be on the wall for the telecommunications company, but the last six months have seen it rally. Shares have bounced back and currently stand at just over $10. It’s a considerable distance from where the company once stood, but progress all the same.
Central to this rise has been relative excitement over its product roadmap for the rest of the year. Its Passport device – a fairly unique, square-shaped smartphone – which has been in development for some time under the codename Windermere. The square shape has been pilloried in some quarters, but Blackberry argues it makes perfect sense for its target audience. The rectangular screens present on almost every smartphone today, the company argues, are ideal for video chats, streaming and gaming, but make for poor companion devices for workers needing to read and write emails, documents or spreadsheets.
But of more interest to the market is a device BlackBerry has codenamed Khan. Due to release alongside the Passport in September, the smartphone is a more concerted effort to rival the more popular devices. Claimed to boast 3GB RAM, a dual-core 1.7GHz processor, 64GB of storage and a 3.5in touchscreen, the device would certainly place at the higher end of the smartphone spectrum and a new operating system timed to coincide with the product releases may reinvigorate the firm further.
A leaked document purported to outline the company’s strategy outlines how the new product launches have been decided to tap into different market segments than the company might have done before. While it may be something of a confession that its previous model is simply outdated, it’s a move in the right direction. Its OS market share remains poor and its share price is some way off what it perhaps could or should be, but BlackBerry’s resurgence is worth a watchful eye.