BlackBerry tried to relaunch itself in 2013 with a new mobile OS in BlackBerry 10 and new smartphones to go along with it. However, the response from both businesses and consumers to the new products was well below expectations. As a result, BlackBerry suffered from huge losses and a few weeks ago announced that it would cut back its workforce by 4,500 team members. Even its plans to expand its BBM network to iOS and Android devices got delayed.
Today, the company posted an open letter on its website, which will be reprinted in a number of major newspapers tomorrow. In short, the company says that it is not dead just yet, stating, "You can continue to count on BlackBerry." It points to the fact that it has no debt, that it has "substantial cash on hand" and that the recently announced layoffs will allow BlackBerry to run a more efficient business.
The letter added:
These are no doubt challenging times for us and we don"t underestimate the situation or ignore the challenges we are facing. We are making the difficult changes necessary to strengthen BlackBerry. One thing we will never change is our commitment to those of you who helped build BlackBerry into the most trusted tool for the world"s business professional.
The letter also claims that its BlackBerry 10 OS and its four new smartphones are the best such products for business customers, even though there"s no evidence that there"s been any sales uptick of those devices to big companies. It also claims that its security is better than the ones offered by the competition and that it has six million people pre-registered to be notified about the BBM launch for iOS and Android, although it fails to mention its recent delay.
As you might expect, BlackBerry"s letter tries to paint a fairly rosy picture but so far the company has done little to show that it can stop its current bleeding beyond just cutting workers. With rumors that BlackBerry is considering selling parts of itself to several different suitors and the fact that BlackBerry"s co-founders are now exploring a bid to take it over again, the future of the company is far from assured.
Source: BlackBerry