BlackBerry's Interim CEO Loses 'Temporary' Tag
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Jan 10, 2014, 4:38 PM by Eric M. Zeman
updated Jan 10, 2014, 4:46 PM
Updated: typo
John S. Chen, the man put in charge of BlackBerry after the ouster of former CEO Thorsten Heins, has made his position permanent. "John said that he would be BlackBerry's CEO until the company is back on solid financial footing," said a company spokesperson to the New York Times. "The search for a CEO has been put on the back burner for now." Chen was initially installed as an interim CEO to manage the ailing smartphone maker until a permanent replacement for Heins could be found. Chen will serve as CEO for at least several years, which is how long it is projected for BlackBerry to get back on its feet. Since being put in charge, Chen has already rearranged senior staffing, made a manufacturing deal with Foxconn, and renewed the company's focus on its BBM messaging product.
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A chance for survival
The more I hear from Mr. Chen, the more I see some hope for BlackBerry after all. He seems to have an "eat the elephant one bite at a time" message in a lot of what he says. BlackBerry will have to equivocate and cut its losses under Chen, but it will do so strategically, by the sound of it. They may have to shift to working on low-cost devices for emerging markets, all built at FoxConn, but at least they could get a foothold again in places where they were once strong, like Indonesia or India among others. They may have to focus on enterprise in the US, and stop selling in the consumer market, but they might hang onto BES customers that way. They may have to license a patent to Typo, or monetize BBM and release it as an app for all of ...
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