Struggling to compete in an extremely difficult and competitive market them, Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry, has set up a committee to look at options for its future, including joint ventures, partnerships or even the sale of the company.
Board member Timothy Dattels, an investment banker and former Goldman Sachs executive, will chair the new committee."Given the importance and strength of our technology, and the evolving industry and competitive landscape, we believe that now is the right time to explore strategic alternatives," Dattels said in a statement.
BlackBerry pioneered with its first smart phones and email pagers. But it has struggled to compete against the likes of Apple and phones using Google`s Android operating system, and its new BlackBerry 10 smartphones have failed to gain significant attention from consumers.
Reuters last week quoted sources familiar with the situation as saying BlackBerry was considering going private, but Blackberry seem open to all options, while they still can, that it...
"While a change in structure could result in a higher stock price in the near term, we do not envision any changes that would help BlackBerry reverse the significant smartphone share loss or rapid decline in service revenues," said Tim Long, an analyst at BMO Capital markets.
BlackBerry`s new line of devices hit store shelves this year just as the high-end smartphone segment had begun to show signs of saturation. Apple earlier this year reported its first quarterly profit decline in more than a decade.Samsung also recently reported results that fell shy of expectations.Chinese manufacturers on the other hand, like Huawei and ZTE are gaining ground o
n the mid- to low end of the market, as their prices are extremely competitive and with Google`s Android basically free, their software development resources can be kept at a minimum.
Blackberry`s future seems uncertain, and it seems they are running out of time. And options.
