BlackBerry has gone through quite a few major changes in the past couple of months. The company abandoned a plan to sell itself after the only takeover bid it had received fell through due to rumored funding issues. Instead it received a $1 billion institutional investment and drove out its CEO Thorsten Heins. Former Sybase CEO John Chen was brought on as interim CEO and executive chair of the board. Back then the company announced that Chen would man the helm until a permanent CEO was found. The “interim” has been quietly dropped from Chen’s title, and BlackBerry has confirmed that he won’t be stepping down soon.
Adam Emery, a spokesman for BlackBerry confirmed that Chen is going to have the top job at BlackBerry until the company is back on “solid financial footing.” He also confirmed that the search for a CEO has now been put on the “back burner.” Chen has already set the wheels in motion for the turnaround of this ailing Canadian manufacturer. He is focused on returning BlackBerry back to its roots and focusing primarily on government and enterprise customers. Design and risk related to the device business have been outsourced to Foxconn, which will handle low-end and mid-range devices that are geared towards emerging markets. Having lost $4.4 billion last quarter, the company still has a couple of billion in cash and continues to tighten its belt so as to find the permanent road to sustainability.
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