BlackBerry has appealed directly to its
customers to stay loyal, publishing an
open letter in newspapers around the
world Tuesday that touts its
technology and financial position.
The ad, published on the company's
website and in major newspapers,
stresses that the embattled
smartphone maker has substantial
cash on hand and no debt.
The letter also talks up Blackberry's
social network, security features and
corporate appeal.
"You can continue to count on
BlackBerry," the letter declares.
What the ad does not mention is that
Blackberry is for sale and has
received a preliminary $4.7 billion
buyout offer from Fairfax Financial.
"These are no doubt challenging times
for us and we don't underestimate the
situation or ignore the challenges we
are facing," the ad acknowledges. "We
are making the difficult changes
necessary to strengthen BlackBerry."
The proposed deal from Fairfax came
just three days after BlackBerry
announced a brutal preliminary
quarterly financial report, including a
$1 billion loss and plans to lay off
about 4,500 employees.
The company is looking at other
offers, and potential buyers include
tech rivals and private equity firms.
An offer from one of these companies
would put BlackBerry on much firmer
ground, given that many investors
doubt the deal with Fairfax can be
completed.
BlackBerry announced last month that
it plans to lay off 40% of its global
workforce by the end of the year. The
first round of cuts began last week,
with 300 employees let go.
Other tech companies are actively
recruiting BlackBerry employees, with
Apple and Intel going so far as to host
meet-and-greet events near
BlackBerry's headquarters in
Waterloo, Ontario.
BlackBerry rivals Apple, Google and
Microsoft have worked hard to
improve their security and e-mail
delivery capabilities. As a result,
corporate IT departments have
opened their doors to non-BlackBerry
devices.
Blackberry 10, the operating system
that was meant to save the company,
was delayed several times. So were
the phones built around the new
platform, which left BlackBerry
customers with no new phones to buy.
BlackBerry 10 finally launched in
January, but sales of the new phones
running on the platform have sorely
disappointed.
-- CNNMoney's Julianne Pepitone
contributed reporting.
By Charles Riley 10/15 03:55 AM EDT
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What do you think? For me I believe it is over for bb lovers

Make i hear!