Bad news for users of BB phones. Canadian telecommunication and wireless equipment company, BlackBerry Limited has put itself up for sale as the struggling smartphone maker seeks to revive the fortunes of its ailing brand.
The handset revolutionised mobile phone technology when it was introduced in 1999 but its popularity was badly dented by the launch of Apple's iPhone in 2007 and has since lost out to Android phones as well as Microsoft's Windows device.
The Canadian handset maker has failed to lure consumers to buy its BlackBerry 10 devices, which were meant to reverse the fortune of the company.
Consequently, BlackBerry has was forced to consider a sale or joint venture to survive and has chosen the sale option.
Dismal 2nd quarter results sent the company's share price tumbling in June as sales of its new smartphones working with the new BlackBerry 10 operating system failed to meet expectations.
Mike Walkley, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity, said sales are getting worse even with price reductions for the new phones.
'Now they have to go to the next step of what's best for the company and shareholders to survive long term because it doesn't look promising on BlackBerry 10 sales,' he said.
BlackBerry announced that the board had formed a special committee 'to explore strategic alternatives' to boost take-up of its new technology.
'These alternatives could include, among others, possible joint ventures, strategic partnerships or alliances, a sale of the company or other possible transactions,' it said in a statement.
Timothy Dattels, who will chair the committee, said 'the evolving industry and competitive landscape' meant it was the right time to explore such options.
Source: FT, MailOnline
0 comments:
Post a Comment