If you found yourself on a news floor, a conference room or even the corridors of the white house in the 1990s, it is likely you would hear the frantic tapping of journalists, business-people and politicians all smashing their thumbs on a BlackBerry smartphone. However, with the steady march of time and the incoming disruptor of the iPhone, the earthquake of tapping would become fainter and fainter until it was no more of a whisper among a trickle of Blackberry loyalists, clinging to the glory days of the 90s. The appetite of consumers had firmly been swung to Apple rather than Blackberry’s. However, Blackberry is making headlines again, not just because its share price has become a plaything of ‘Wallstreetbets’ (an army of anti-establishment novice traders), but because of its remarkable transition from hardware to software. It has embraced the future of connectivity, with it rebuilding its business to focus on creating end-to-end mobility solutions and leading in the transformative power of the ‘Internet of Things’. Everything from cars, planes, households, factories, domestic appliance and many other aspects of life will be part of the Internet of things. This new revolution in connectivity will allow for smart appliances which can analyse data patterns and provide real-time feedback. It is this revolution that Blackberry now leads and in the words of Charles Darwin “It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change”.
It is not disputed that Blackberry is no longer a credible competitor in the phone industry. They were to slow to adapt, innovate and meet the changing demands of consumers in the early and late 2000s. Since the strategic tilt to software and its strong emphasis on cyber-security, along with its latest innovations in intelligent vehicle data platforms (Known as IVY), Blackberry looks like an entirely different company to the one most people remember it for. For example, ‘If the cells in your body are replaced every 7-10 years, are you still the same person as 10 years ago?’, linking this, it is easy to wonder about Blackberry on the same lines. Although the company is no longer characterised by their phones, they still have the same company values of supporting innovation, such as investing 24% of revenue in research and development and also holding 38,000+ patents. This is not to say they are not still producing phones; Onward Mobility promises to produce a new 5G Blackberry in 2021. It is the willingness of Blackberry to change and evolve which makes it such an interesting company. Blackberry’s focus on end-point security software, is helping secure corporate clients from malware threats, which makes the bulk of the company’s revival. They are finding new solutions to the ever-changing landscape of cyber-security, utilising artificial intelligence and machine learning which is promoting greater system resilience. In fact, their safety and security software are now found in over 500 million endpoints.
As mentioned, Blackberry has shaped itself into a world leader in developing the internet of things. This is essentially the process of multiple different devices being able to connect together and collect data on various aspects of their use. Their vehicle data platform, the IVY, in partnership with AWS (Amazon Web Services), will help allow cars and other transport vehicles to integrate operations with the cloud. This will allow for the rapid development of personalised customer experiences and drive innovative solutions through enhanced product insights to suppliers. Essentially, Blackberry is providing services that can help facilitate and capture raw data which otherwise may have been lost. The market for IoT products is going to expand drastically, largely pushed forward by 5G as it will provide the backbone of expanding connectivity to a range of new products.
Blackberry isn’t just transformed, it is transformative. Its share price has been rallying to the new business model (even if it has corrected after wallstreetsbets) and investors seem content with the new functions of the company. Even if it doesn’t have that popular resonance of the 90s, it does have a lot to be confident about and is likely to continue progressing in an era of greater connectivity. For those still loyal to Blackberry, it may not be what you were looking for but Blackberry has returned.
Written by Henri Willmott,
Content Manager