What Happened To BlackBerry?

For years, BlackBerry was the most popular smartphone brand in the U.S. After failing to adjust to the rapidly-changing industry and falling to competitors like Apple and Google, the company pivoted to an entirely new direction. Now, it’s focused solely on software and cybersecurity — trying to leave the iconic cellphones in the past. CNBC visited BlackBerry's Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Center and interviewed CEO John Chen to see what the company is up to now.

Produced by: Liam Mays
Supervising Producer: Jeniece Pettitt
Additional Camera: Magdalena Petrova and Sydney Boyo
Senior Producer, Post Production: Erin Black

Chapters:
00:01 Introduction
2:05 Early days as RIM
2:59 Prime Era
4:53 Downfall
7:16 A new era

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What Happened To BlackBerry?

[lilPopper]

I miss having my BlackBerry Curve. Many can talk crap about the company. But BlackBerry paved the way for the smart phones. Their security software on their phones at the time were even more secure than the early years of Android and iOS that corporations, entrepreneurs and the governments were using them. And now, for them to no longer manufacture phones anymore and focus primarily on software security, it was the right decision. If they can't compete in hardware, they can compete in software.

[yuzhang]

The biggest problem with Blackberry is that they wanted an absolute control on their phones.And they treated the developers as their enemies. They had first mover advantage and had the niche, and lived well for a while. Then the market was flooded with iPhone and Android that could do so much more than Blackberry through apps. There is no way Blackberry was able to compete. They started to change the altitude towards developers, but it was too little too late.

I guess Microsoft didn't learn the lesson, they wanted a tight control on Windows' phone, and followed the Blackberry path to failure.

[admiralbeez]

Still rocking my Blackberry Key2. At five years old now the battery is still running at about 70% health. It's robustly built and as a 50 y/o I started my career with physical keyboards on my Palm Treo and BBs.

[azazc]

The problem was how important apps became on smartphones. Developers picked iOS and Android. BB was late to the game in app support, and by then most customers had abandoned them.

[psychedelicspider]

As much as I love and rely on my Android smartphone for daily tasks and communication, I still remember Blackberry phones fondly, my mom's Blackberry was basically the first phone with an internet connection that I used.

[Kessoku]

their design is so cool, timeless, and functional. I hope BlackBerry will be a cool things again in the future.

[siuabc]

Beautiful shift from hardware to software. Chan did similar with a database company in the 90s. The company did not follow the path as Nokia and other tech that got destroyed by tech interruptions, as this is the norm now.

[MsHobbies]

Nothing can beat BB’s keyboard man. I miss the physical keyboards

[yeman]

Still hoping it makes a comeback for us die-hard BlackBerry users.

[carlospulpo]

Blackberry did well before app stores where a thing, back then you used email, text messages or web browser on a phone. The Application Programing Interface (API) was so archaic (modified Java) and could not handle the apps, particularly games. As soon as other handset makes met near equivalent FIPS / BYOD device management security requirements, it was all over for Blackberry .

[faisalshahid]

Blackberry QWERTY phones need to make a comeback. Somehow John Chen has to find a way to make it happen. For then humanity shall have hope.

[jasoncoreas]

As a BB share holder, I’m bullish on their future. They should consider going in to telecom infrastructure. They can be the anti-huawei.

[ramirenriquez]

Despite how BB failed in the smartphone arena, they're still an inspirational company because of how they're turning things around. Samsung, I believe, was also not a tech company before but a grocery store. Businesses should know how to be liquid during uncertain times.

[bennetfox]

I loved my Blackberry 8800 and I was really sad when the day came that I had to switch to another phone! Crackberry for life!

[melroydsouza]

I have used almost all the blackberry models n I still use the blackberry key 2 silver edition till today.i can't do without Blackberry n I love it from every corner of me.

[photosbymiketm]

The low blackberry sales wasn't because of their hardware or software. Their blackberry 10 devices were awesome. Their Passport was awesome. What killed Blackberry was the lack of app support with their blackberry 10 devices which is why they couldn't compete against iPhone and Android. Then when Blackberry switched to Android software their blackberry supporters left because what made blackberry a blackberry wasn't the same using Android software. If Blackberry had exact same app support of all apps that iPhone and Android had, blackberry would of still been in the market today. I actually really liked blackberry 10 software while using blackberry passport, but what kept be from using blackberry device was the lack of app support.

[lsteiner]

BB10 IS the best OS ever. Ridiculously easy to use. The Z10 is still my daily driver. Blackberry made 2 mistakes when they had loads of cash. The price point was too high, and they spent nothing on advertising. With 3 players in the game, we could have had real competition in the market. Too bad for all of us.

[hassanellamey]

The problem with BlackBerry in the past was that it did not listen to customer opinions and the response was slow and that marketing was very, very weak to promote its new phones in the past. high specifications
I still use Key2 until now as a basic phone with me, and I hope BlackBerry will return to manufacturing phones that support a new physical keyboard with high specifications

[thecorpooration]

20 years ago I was talking with one of the directors at RIM (long before it changed its name to Blackberry) and being close to the core management team she said that the two co-CEO's had surrounded themselves with "Yes Men" who were also fighting political battles among themselves. I'd be curious to confirm this, but also to find out how much of this led to the company's arrogance and blindness when it came to real innovation (i.e. the overtaking of their business by Apple and Samsung).

[jaysherman]

I loved Blackberry and the other keyboard phones so much. I could not use virtual on screen keyboards. Thankfully Unihertz has taken up the mantle for Blackberry and made a phone with a keyboard that I use every day. Solid as a rock and feels a lot like the Blackberry Passport.