BlackBerry Ltd (O:BBRY)
BlackBerry hasn't had the best time in the market as of late. In fact, the company's stock has fallen on incredibly rough times, and for good reason. Nonetheless, it seems as though BBRY is starting to make moves into the right direction. Today, we'll talk about why the stock has had such a rough time as of late, what they're doing to increase business and breathe new life into their stock, and what we can expect to see from BBRY moving forward.
Why BlackBerry Has Been Struggling
Since 2011, BlackBerry hasn't seen much love in the market. Nonetheless, there's a reason for this. Thinking about the company, what's the first thing that comes to mind. If you're like most people, you're thinking about smartphones. Years ago, BBRY was one of the innovative parties in the smartphone space. It seemed like every business professional, every text message addict and every techie wanted to get their hands on the BlackBerry phone. However, as the years passed, winners and losers started to emerge in the smartphone industry, and the ultimate decider between the two became operating systems. Soon, Android and iOS began to control the market, and BBRY just couldn't keep up with the mobile operating system competition. As a result, BBRY smartphones quickly became a fad of the past. In fact, today, BlackBerry smartphones only account for less than 1% of smarthpone marketshare... a far cry from what we've seen from the company in the past.
BBRY Is Working To Get Back To Smartphone Dominance
At this point, it's clear that BlackBerry has decided to stop figuratively chasing its tail in the smartphone space. Instead of running in circles trying to improve upon an obsolete smartphone operating system, the company has decided to take advantage of popularity. Recently, BlackBerry released its latest and greatest phone... Priv. However, there are two key differences between Priv and smartphones we've seen from BBRY recently. First and foremost, Priv runs on the Android operating system, an operating system that has an incredible following. Secondly, BlackBerry's Priv was released with incredible demand. As a matter of fact, demand for the phone was so high that shipments got delayed... that's a great problem to have and one that BBRY hasn't had in quite some time!
Now BlackBerry Is Expanding This Concept Further
While BBRY has been relatively silent with its plans to create more Android-based cell phones, information has leaked that another one is on the way. According to CrackBerry, a website that follows BlackBerry incredibly closely, Priv isn't a one-shot deal. In fact, the company said that BBRY is working on another cell phone that runs on Android. The new phone is expected to have the name Vienna. According to the CrackBerry leak, the primary difference between Priv and Vienna is the fact that Vienna will have a permanent keyboard, the feature that put BBRY on the map in the first place. Considering the demand for Priv and how investors reacted to the new phone in the market, I'd imagine that when Vienna is released, it will prove to be the next catalyst for the stock.
What We Can Expect To See Moving Forward
Moving forward, I've got relatively high hopes for BBRY. While there's still plenty of work to be done, it's clear that the company is moving in the right direction. By taking advantage of its strengths in hardware and partnering to take advantage of an incredibly popular operating system, BBRY branded phones may become popular yet again, which will lead to earnings and incredible price movement surrounding the stock.
What Do You Think?
Where do you think BBRY is headed and why? Let us know your opinion in the comments below!