BlackBerry looks to re-establish itself in the mobile space

Finally some good news out of BlackBerry. BlackBerry has hired John Sims, former SAP mobile services boss, to take on the role of president of Global Enterprise services. Sim’s appointment comes after month of harsh cuts as the company attempts to restructure itself.

BlackBerry let go of CEO Thorsten Heins earlier in December making John S Chen the interim CEO. Sims will take over the role of president of Global Enterprise services in January 2014. This suggests after months of losing executives that BlackBerry is now trying to set up a team to turnaround the company.

BlackBerry will attempt to bring itself back into contention in 2014 with a renewed focus on enterprise. What will happen to the company’s consumer-facing business remains unknown. BlackBerry 10 has yet to secure anything remotely resembling traction in 2013’s smartphone space, resulting in BlackBerry share prices bottoming out at a 10-year low. 

"The Blackberry story has three main scenarios in the next year," says Strategy Analytics' Neil Mawston.

"First, there could be extra investment from Fairfax to enable Blackberry to carry on as normal with its planned product roadmap for 2014. Fairfax could absorb the financial losses, perhaps with some Canadian government help. Second, Fairfax could split up the company into multiple parts and sell it on at a profit. For example, Blackberry’s patents, BBM consumer service, BES enterprise service, and smartphone hardware divisions could all be sold off separately to American, European or Asian buyers. Third, Blackberry could enter a death spiral, run out of cash and go bust by 2015."