WATERLOO, ON – Contrary to reports, BlackBerry has no plans to dump its handset business any time soon, executive chairman and CEO John Chen clarified on Thursday.
In a blog post entitled Devices Business is an Important Part of Our End-to-End Strategy, Chen (pictured) said that he is focused “on finding a way to make this business profitable”, and that a Reuters article quoting him saying that he would consider exiting its handset business if it remains unprofitable took his comments out of context.
“BlackBerry is not a handset-only company. We offer an end-to-end solution and devices are an important part of that equation”, reads the post. “We will do everything in our power to continue to rebuild this business and deliver devices with the iconic keyboard and other features that you have come to expect from this brand.
“Rest assured, we continue to fight. We have not given up and we are not leaving the Devices business.”
The Reuters article added that BlackBerry was also looking to invest in or team up with other companies in regulated industries such as healthcare, and financial and legal services, all of which require highly secure communications. Chen did not dispute that in his blog post.
– Lesley Hunter
