Struggling smartphone maker to explore " strategic
alternatives" in hopes of enhancing the company ' s
value .
BlackBerry has hinted it might put itself up for sale
after the long- awaited debut of its new phones
failed to turn around the struggling smartphone
maker .
The Canadian company said on Monday that its
board has formed a special committee to explore
“strategic alternatives” in hopes of enhancing the
company' s value and boosting adoption of its
BlackBerry 10 platform.
Now they have to go to the next step of what ' s
best for the company and shareholders to survive
long term because it doesn ' t look promising on
BlackBerry 10 sales
Mike Walkley , analyst
The company said its options could also include
joint ventures , partnerships , or other moves .
The Canadian company' s U .S - traded stock jumped
9.6 percent to $ 10. 70 in afternoon trading on
Monday .
The strategic review will be headed by Timothy
Dattels , who joined BlackBerry ' s board last year
and is a senior partner at TPG Capital , one of the
world' s largest private equity firms .
The BlackBerry, pioneered in 1999 , had been the
dominant smartphone for on- the -go business
people and other consumers before Apple debuted
the iPhone in 2007 and showed that phones can
handle much more than email and phone calls.
Since then BlackBerry Ltd has been hammered by
competition from the iPhone as well as Android -
based rivals.
In January, the company unveiled new phones
running a revamped operating system called
BlackBerry 10 designed to better compete . But its
market share continues to lag, and the company
warned in June of future losses.
Mike Walkley , an analyst with Canaccord Genuity,
said sales are getting worse even with price
reductions for the new phones.
" Now they have to go to the next step of what ' s
best for the company and shareholders to survive
long term because it doesn ' t look promising on
BlackBerry 10 sales ,'' Walkley said .
Monday ' s announcement marks the second time
BlackBerry has said it has hired bankers to help
weigh its options since Thorsten Heins became
CEO in early 2012 .
The company faced numerous delays modernising
its operating system with the BlackBerry 10.
During that time , it had to cut more than 5, 000
jobs , and shareholder wealth declined by more
than $ 70bn .
Heins had said then he was not actively looking to
sell BlackBerry , but wanted to be prepared given
the challenging environment.
He ended up focusing on launching BlackBerry 10
this year, but the company warned in June of
future losses.


http://m.aljazeera.com/story/2013812221524783963