Barely a week after launching an all-new, make-or-break line of
smartphones, BlackBerry is already looking at a future in which it is a
leader in "mobile computing," Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said on
Tuesday.
Heins said BlackBerry is aiming to reclaim its spot as an
innovator in a world where smartphones already have the processing power
to replace tablets and laptops.
The company, which changed its
name from Research In Motion when it launched its new BlackBerry 10
smartphones a week ago, pioneered on-the-go email before losing ground
to nimbler rivals with faster devices. It is now out to explore new
territory.
"This isn't just about smartphones and tablets," Heins,
who took over as CEO just over a year ago, said in an interview soon
after the launch of the BlackBerry 10 devices.
"The architecture
we have built is true mobile computing architecture. It's not a
downgraded PC operating system. It is a whole new innovation built from
scratch. It's built for mobile."
While speaking at the Empire Club
of Canada on Tuesday, Heins reiterated his message: "BlackBerry 10 is
not just a device. It is a whole new mobile computing platform," he
said.
Despite a number of glowing reviews for the BB10 and reports
of strong initial sales, however, some analysts and technology pundits
are skeptical about BlackBerry's chances of mounting a comeback,
doubting its ability to sell either enough smartphones or manage to
transform the way people work.
"The Street cares about how many
units of these (devices) they're going to sell and that is the balancing
act," said John Jackson, an industry analyst at consulting firm IDC.
Jackson
said he can see a future in which the BlackBerry 10 operating system
will allow users to control a vast array of devices, but added: "They
need to sell devices to keep the lights on while they transform
themselves into a next-generation computing platform."
BlackBerry's marketing head, Frank Boulben, said the company is moving quickly enough to do just that.
"The
vision is going to start to materialize this year," he said. "You will
be able to plug the (Z10) device into a docking station at the office
and then all you need is a keyboard, a mouse and a screen. Combined with
cloud services this would mean you don't need a laptop or a desktop."
BlackBerry
last week unveiled two versions of devices that run on the BB10 OS, a
touchscreen smartphone dubbed Z10 and one with a physical keyboard
called the Q10, betting they will help it win back some of the market
share it has bled to the likes of Apple and Samsung Electronics.
It's about the platform
On
launch day, Heins spent the first 20 minutes of the event talking about
the BlackBerry 10 platform, rather than about the new smartphone models
themselves.
"Over the short term, yes, we have to be successful
with the devices, we have got to win back the enterprises, we've got win
back consumers," he said. "But in the longer term, we have to
understand where this company is going."
Initial checks from
analysts point to strong sales for the Z10 in its early launch countries
of Canada and Britain. The Q10 device will not be on sale until April.
"We
spoke to a range of U.K. vendors over the weekend who indicated
BlackBerry's Z10 sales were strong," Barclays analyst Jeff Kvaal said in
a note. "Some store locations were completely sold out of the Z10
device, while others had limited stock."
Two of Canada's largest
wireless carriers, Rogers and Bell, say demand for the new devices is
strong. Rogers said pre-orders for the Z10 device are already in the
thousands, while Bell said customer pre-registration numbers for the new
smartphone are unprecedented for a new BlackBerry device.
Analyst
upgrades, coupled with the Z10 sales reports, have sparked a surge in
BlackBerry's shares this week. The stock is up more than 24 percent from
Friday's close of $13.03 on the Nasdaq.
The stock, which remains
some 90 percent below its 2008 peak, fell more than 20 percent in the
two days following the BlackBerry launch, partly on disappointment that
the new devices will not hit the crucial U.S. market until next month.
All options open
At
the launch, BlackBerry did not address its so far unsuccessful foray
into the tablet market, but Heins said the company remains committed to
this segment.
"I'm not getting out of the tablet business, I've
asked my teams to build another one, but I need to make money from it.
If the hardware doesn't provide the margins I need, then it makes no
sense in doing it," he said.
BlackBerry's PlayBook tablets debuted
in 2011, but never gained traction against Apple's iPad and other
devices. The company was forced to write down the value of the devices
and it has since sold them at sharply reduced prices.
Heins said BlackBerry will remain focused on expanding its business in mobile computing over the next two to four years.
BlackBerry's
QNX operating system, which forms the basis of its new BlackBerry 10
OS, already runs cars, nuclear reactors and manufacturing plants, and
Heins said this opens new vistas for the company, although he gave no
clear description of what they are.
"What we need to decide is
where do we play? It could be a software play, a licensing play, an
end-to-end horizontal play, we'll figure that out," he said. "In five
years, yes we might still be in hardware, but we may not be in hardware. I'm not ruling anything out."
"Mobile computing is not going
to be decided in the next quarter. We have got to figure out as an
industry how we get there. All I know is that I want us to be a leader
there."
© Thomson Reuters 2013
BlackBerry 10 Launch: In pictures