Further highlighting the new shift is the statement of John Chen, BlackBerry’s CEO, made at the BlackBerry annual Security Summit in New York City. He made known that BlackBerry had over the last four years, been actively shedding off its old global image as an handheld device company while strengthening its new image as a top global software and security company dealing in devices ranging from smartphones to cars and everything in between.
Here’s what he had to say to the over 700+ persons seated at the summit: “The narrative has really transitioned from cell phones to mobile security to a broader cyber security conversation to now securing more than just cell phones. With the Internet of Things (IoT) and connectivity on the rise, we need to be able to secure everything…and BlackBerry has the technology foundation
Things are already looking promising for BlackBerry, especially as it recorded a $2.5 billion operating profits and revenue in this year alone. Reporting on the impressive gross margin records, Chen said: “We’ve had a strong year and we’re going to continue with our strategy of becoming a major ecosystem player that works with system integrators, software, and hardware to make sure technology is embedded in as many things as possible.”
Among other things, Chen noted in his Keynote that BlackBerry had the technology to break into the blockchain sphere. He expounded on this when he said: “Cryptocurrencies and blockchain are definitely on our to-do list. We haven’t done a lot of work yet and we don’t have it ready today, but it seems like a simple thing to incorporate into our platform without a lot of effort so we intend to do it.” According to him, it is almost a natural development, especially as more players are increasing their investment in blockchain research.
Smart cars and autonomous vehicles are on the horizon for BlackBerry. The tech giant plans to provide secure platforms and operating systems for the innovative vehicles. A good step it has taken in this direction is partnering with the city of Ottawa in October, to test drive the first driverless car to be used on a public road in Canada.
On whether BlackBerry would be making a comeback to get back on top, Chen said BlackBerry is certainly working to get back on top, but will be focusing on the software aspect with little or nothing to do with manufacturing the devices.
“This whole cyber security and mobility security space is really just a game of cat and mouse; you can never always be at the top. There’s always some give and take; ebbs and flows,” Chen said. “However, we feel comfortable saying that we’ll continue to be a major player in mobile security and we’re relying on our channel partners and their reach to get back on top.”
