Many sources mentioned that Samsung was interested in BlackBerry’s turn of fortunes and was keen to possess its secure technology. Analysts thought that Samsung would find Blackberry’s 44,000 patents highly valuable to its business. They also pointed out that Blackberry was already supplying Samsung secure mobile software for its smartphones and the acquisition would make a strategic addition for Samsung.
Nonetheless, Blackberry continued to maintain that it had no plans for sale. Moreover, the Blackberry board mentioned that most of the bids the company continued to receive were around US$ 7 billion, which it felt was much below its potential value. Giving a clarification on the issue, Chen said, “I don’t have any offers on my desk. If people would like to talk, I mean, talk is not an offer.”43
In the near future, Blackberry planned to introduce new smartphones that catered to keyboard enthusiasts primarily from its business user segment, who had previously rejected the company’s touchscreen devices. Chen added, “The focus is going to be very keyboard centric.”44 He believed that it was the best strategy to reverse the company’s market share losses.
However, analysts pointed out that keyboard enthusiasts formed a very small segment of the smartphone market and by concentrating on catering to their needs, Blackberry stood in danger of losing out on a larger segment of the market. Moreover, several studies showed that there was a growing demand for touchscreen phones, whose size was five inches and more, so that users could type more easily. That aspect was expected to adversely affect the future demand for keyboard- based Blackberry devices.
Chen had specific future plans for Blackberry to put it on the growth path. He stated that the company had cut costs and was generating cash, which it planned to use to strengthen its software development capability. The company’s future plans included introducing new products primarily aimed at business users and promoting its various services.
Chen stated that Blackberry was increasing the strength of its sales staff, bolstering its distribution capability through a partnership with Samsung, and developing relationships with wireless carriers across the world. He also announced that in order to build the security credentials of its enterprise device management business, the company was looking to acquire small companies that had expertise in that field. Chen stated that he was 99% confident that Blackberry would make a successful turnaround. He added, “As to when it’s going to shore up the top line, it’s probably going to take a little while, but it’s not going to be a long while