BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)’s is slowing turning around their money-leaking ship, and they’re pinning their future return to profitability on a willingness to create software that works seamlessly with other devices, enabling greater collaboration and incentives for business people. Speaking to CNBC, BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) CEO John Chen discussed their software strategy and progress.
“The idea is really to make the software available on any of the major devices out there, whether it’s Android-based, or iOS-based, Windows-based, and BlackBerry-based, and we like to take it through not only the enterprise side, but the distribution channel including the carriers. I have spoken to many of them the last 30 to 45 days; lots of interest, I think this will do well for us,” Chen said.
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)’s new Blend app, available for the first time with the recently released Passport, shows off this new commitment. The data-sharing app functions across multiple devices and OS’s, without the need for a virtual private network and without having to store anything on the Cloud.
The shift away from hardware, which BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) all but admits is a losing battle, to software and services, has been a general theme under Chen since he took over leadership of the company last year. Among his recent acquisitions are a couple of European companies: Germany’s Secusmart GmbH in July, and Movirtu Ltd., out of the U.K earlier this month.
Movirtu Ltd. is a particularly interesting acquisition whose service allows users to store multiple indentities on their phone. This could prove particularly appealing for businesses and their employees, especially when using company-issued phones. The software allows the employees to retain separate profiles for personal use and business, and provide their employers with accurate billing for work-related expenses incurred while using the phone.
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) is also looking to get into the software side of the wearables industry, and has been testeing their BlackBerry Messenger service for use with wearables. There’s also the possibility they could enter that market on the hardware side as well.
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) is up 4.72% in trading today, after their quarterly results beat analysts estimates and showed the company is closing the gap on their losses faster than anticipated, though their revenue also fell well short of expectations. BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) lost $207 million in their latest results on revenue of $916 million.
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