At MWC 2014, BlackBerry joked that its new Q20 smartphone was close to being called the BlackBerry Classic. Turns out, there is more to the joke than what it actually appears: CEO John Chen has revealed that a new model called the BlackBerry Classic will be released in November this year, featuring everything that BB users have loved with the Bold but with newer tech inside.
In a broad-range interview with USA Today, BlackBerry CEO revealed much about how he plans to turn the company around. With a market value that has depleted 90% from its heyday, this is undoubtedly an uphill challenge. Amazingly, Chen’s timeframe is surprisingly tight: he wants BlackBerry to get in the black by the end of this year, and by the end of the next fiscal year, be profitable once more.
To do that, Chen will be focusing more on the company’s enterprise strengths. For example, Chen notes that governments of the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand and now India are all using BlackBerry devices alongside its many other security structures. Chen intends to rebuild BlackBerry’s success from there, while not neglecting the consumer front. After all, enterprise security has always been a strong point for the company.
A concept of how the BlackBerry Classic will look like. (Image: CrackBerry)
As for the consumer market, Chen reiterates that BlackBerry will not be leaving the consumer smartphone business. In fact, BlackBerry will still be releasing BB smartphones with a new product segment called the BlackBerry Classic. It will be nod to the Bold smartphones of its prime, complete with the reintroduction of the “tool belt”: the “belt” of physical buttons and trackpad in legacy devices. Chen is calling it “an updated and enhanced version” of the Bold, and will be released in November.
For more about Chen’s turnaround plans, check out the full interview transcript in the source link below.
(Source: USA Today)
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