BlackBerry CEO John Chen has denied he would exit the smartphone business if it remains unprofitable for the Canadian company. His new statements come less than a day after being quoted by Reuters, which he now says took his words out of context.
Here’s the original article:
BlackBerry Ltd would consider exiting its handset business if it remains unprofitable, its chief executive said on Wednesday, as the company looks to expand its corporate reach with investments, acquisitions and partnerships.
“If I cannot make money on handsets, I will not be in the handset business,” John Chen said in an interview, adding that the time frame for such a decision was short. He would not be more specific.
Well, Chen is now being more specific: “I want to assure you that I have no intention of selling off or abandoning this business any time soon. I know you still love your BlackBerry devices. I love them too and I know they created the foundation of this company. Our focus today is on finding a way to make this business profitable.”
Eagle-eyed readers will notice that Chen is not denying his previous statement. Yet what he said before is not exactly something new: BlackBerry wants to be profitable in the smartphone business, and just like any other company, will consider all its options if it can’t pull that off. It would be asinine not to.
“We will do everything in our power to continue to rebuild this business and deliver devices with the iconic keyboard and other features that you have come to expect from this brand,” Chen added. “Rest assured, we continue to fight. We have not given up and we are not leaving the Devices business.”
See also – BlackBerry confirms sponsored content in BBM Channels, promises no ads in BBM chats and to respect user privacy and BlackBerry changes approval date for its BlackBerry 10 app incentive program, enrages unpaid developers
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