In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, financially struggling Blackberry Ltd. (Blackberry) reported a narrow net profit of US$ 28 million or 5 cents per share. Though the company experienced a serious fall in revenues from US$ 793 million in the previous quarter to US$ 660 million, its second-straight quarter profits drove its stock price up by around 5%. John Chen (Chen), the CEO of Blackberry, believed that the continuing profits were an indication that the company was on its way to making a successful turnaround. He said, “Our financial viability is no longer in question. We’re now turning our attention to revenue stabilization.”4
Blackberry, founded in 1984, played the role of a pioneer in the evolution of the global smartphone market. It introduced the first mobile device capable of sending and receiving messages wirelessly in the late 1990s. By 2008, the company was its peak with a market capitalization of US$ 82 billion and was market leader in the global smartphone market, with a market share of 44%.
However, the introduction of Apple Inc.’s (Apple) 5 iPhone drastically changed the smartphone market and Blackberry failed to keep up with the redefinition of the mobile market. Blackberry, which mostly catered to business users, failed to meet the requirements of the new smartphone