APPED-OUT
BlackBerry Looks to Sell Out
arindam
arindam
14 Aug, 2013
So long BlackBerry boys.
So long BlackBerry boys. The phone that revolutionised the market when it was launched has been unable to cope with the onslaught of smartphones and the competition they bring in terms of the number and variety of apps. According to The Guardian, the company previously known as Research in Motion (RIM) announced that it had decided to ‘explore strategic alternatives’. Buyers are being sought, though the company could also go private or be broken up. It lost $84 million in the last quarter and announced 50,000 layoffs last year. “The beginning of the end started some time ago,” said Stuart Jeffrey, analyst at Nomura Securities. He said the company’s statement suggested it no longer had any confidence in its ability to get out of its predicament. BlackBerry, he predicts, is likely to re-emerge as a software company, perhaps with contracts for super-secure government devices, but “without the handicap of all those uncompetitive handsets”.
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