BlackBerry Stands by Hardware as Sales Slip to 2007 Level
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BlackBerry Ltd.’s new chief executive officer, rejecting calls to exit the hardware business, gets a chance this week to convince investors he has the time and vision to revive a unit that’s dragging sales back down to 2007 levels.
Handpicked by BlackBerry’s largest investor for the CEO job, John Chen has begun building his case that the company should keep its unprofitable smartphone business, even as investors and analysts urge the company to focus on more lucrative software and services. Analysts are estimating a 42 percent revenue drop in its quarterly results Dec. 20, putting pressure on Chen to win over skeptics.