Speculation about BlackBerry’s future has finally died down. The board announced recently that its no longer actively seeking a buyer and that it has received a $1 billion investment from various institutional investors. The investment was closed today, and as a result, Thorsten Heins is no longer the CEO. The new BlackBerry CEO John S Chen today penned his first letter to the company’s fans, saying that they’re “excited for the future and you should be too.”
He assures the world that while a lot has been said about the company and the precarious situation it finds itself in, the management is not dwelling on the past, its looking towards the future. Chen says that they’re committed to reclaiming success, and that the company has now begun moving to adopt a multi-platform BYOD management platform and a new device strategy. There has been a lot of talk about the company’s financial health, and seeing how it burned almost $1 billion in operating loss last quarter, analysts fear that it might burn through its entire cash pile in the next few quarters. Chen says that BlackBerry has “significant financial strength for the long-haul.” It remains to be seen how the company’s device strategy changes under the new management. This year BlackBerry launched four BB10 devices and they failed to make a substantial mark in the global smartphone market. Chen has already said that there are no plans to shut down the hardware division, but what we can expect from division in the coming year, still remains a mystery.
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