Blackberry, which was practically the first smartphone, and Research In Motion (later renamed to Blackberry Limited) practically invented the smartphone industry.
On Sept 23, 2013, Blackberry heard the tolling of the bell and found a buyer, Fairfax Financial.
Fairfax Financial's strategy is to break up Blackberry and sell off its assets one by one. For its patents and its cash holdings.
The death knell for the Blackberry phone rang throughout the world.
Without going deep into how he arrived at his turnaround strategy, which will soon be self-evident, even if sacrilegious, the principal consultant of Street Strategist Consulting explains the redemption of Blackberry in a single sentence.
Thads Bentulan, the principal consultant of Street Strategist Consulting, has conjured up the redemption of Blackberry, as a company, and as a product: "Blackberry Android. Survival is the reward of this sacrilege."
Yes, indeed, sacrilegious but self-evident.
Will consumers buy Blackberry with the heart of an Android OS? Why not?
PS.
After I posted this, several comments came my way.
Most of them do not agree with this turnaround strategy.
But most of their arguments have something to do with "emotional attachment" to Blackberry OS rather than a dispassionate analysis of the corporate survival of Blackberry Corp.
Many of them cannot separate the Blackberry OS from the Blackberry ownership and experience.
Remember that OS is not the end-all be-all of a service.
Blackberry Corp provides a "solution" to corporate and consumer problems. It does not matte whether Blackberry phones run on Blackberry OS or Android.
If Google bids for Blackberry, then would it be too illogical to expect a Blackberry Android? If Blackberry Android is possible then why wait til Google swallows up Blackberry Corp?
So why would Blackberry Corp be loyal to an OS and not loyal to its customers?
Blackberry's ability to service customers is independent of its OS. Therefore, the profitability of Blackberry Corp is not anchored on the Blackberry OS.
These ideas should have been self-evident upon reading the turnaround strategy above.
Blackberry has always been about providing solutions to customers, not about loyalty to an OS.
