Today John Chen took to the stage to speak at the Empire Club, and a couple of critical things came out today.
First off, “We have made investment over a billion-plus, all in software, all in security, and now we need to execute it.” This has been the vision in which John Chen has had for the company since he took over. As for “now we need to execute it” that makes things even more interesting. It’s been evident to everyone that BlackBerry is going down the software route; however, John Chen hints to more to come in this area. It’ll be interesting to see what they have up their sleeve.
Additionally, Chen claimed that the company was two-thirds through its turnaround with his strategy. Obviously, the next third will be focused on the execution portion which he mentioned above. This will be tied directly to their bottom line which will soon have to start increasing if John Chen wants to win over the bears out there.
Finally, Chen had this to say about the company’s native homeland: “What I think Canadians ought to think about is, if you really think technology and knowledge is the next evolution of the economy, having a healthy BlackBerry is actually paramount in importance not only to Waterloo and other innovation centres, but also for the Canadian mindset.” I could not agree more. Whilst, there are probably more BlackBerry devices in the hands of Canadians than Americans and probably even UK there is definitely room for improvement. One of the things which keeps me with the company is the concept of supporting a Canadian company.
