BlackBerry

Losing Home Depot biz shatters investors' confidence in BlackBerry 10

posted by Alan F. / Feb 14, 2013, 10:26 AM

Losing Home Depot biz shatters investors' confidence in BlackBerry 10

Now that the dust has settled on the BlackBerry Z10 and the bloom is off the rose, a step back from the hype has many wondering whether BlackBerry has indeed turned itself around. If there is one unsettling story that seems to be weighing on the company, it was the word this weekend that Home Depot had decided to go with the Apple iPhone for its executives, which means dropping its current BlackBerry handsets.

BlackBerry still has the launch of its QWERTY equipped BlackBerry Q10 to look forward to

Some have used the Home Depot story as a reason to dump the stock, questioning how successful the BlackBerry Z10 can be in the enterprise if it loses business from as huge company like Home Depot, which was a BlackBerry client to begin with. Considering that BlackBerry 10 was supposed to help the company compete with iOS, Android and Windows Phone as a gadget for consumers, it was hoped that it also would staunch the bleeding that has taken part in the enterprise market, especially in the BYOD arena where employees were bringing in touchscreen Android and Apple iPhone models to the workplace. BlackBerry Balance was supposed to be the feature that gave IT department heads the confidence to select a BlackBerry model for work, and still let employees take it home and install as many apps as they wanted. But the Home Depot business, which was for 10,000 units, cuts deeper because the phone that is replacing BlackBerry at the retailer is the Apple iPhone 4S, a phone that is 16 months old.

Also bothering investors enough that the stock dropped 8% on Wednesday and more on Thursday, is the news that former co-CEO Jim Balsillie had dumped his remaining stake in the company. As we told you this morning, in a Valentine's Day filing with regulators, Balsillie showed no love for the company he once steered by selling all 26.8 million shares that he still had in what was then called Research In Motion, before the end of 2012. That represented about a 5% stake in the company.

The next big thing on the horizon for BlackBerry is the U.S.launch of its all-touch BlackBerry Z10 model followed by the launch a few weeks afterwards of the physical QWERTY equipped BlackBerry Q10. How the U.S. market responds to the new models could very well be the difference between life and death for the Canadian manufacturer.

source: Reuters via Crackberry

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20 Comments

1. papss unregistered

Oh wow that's a huge blow for them.

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 10:31 AM 6

6. Mxyzptlk unregistered

Yeah, Home Depot chose the best phone on the market over the blackberry. Not exactly a happy moment when you're releasing a new platform.

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 10:59 AM 0

20. ZeroCide

Posts: 806; Member since: Jan 09, 2013

Really! They chose Nokia 920's. Good for them!!!!!

posted on Feb 15, 2013, 5:43 PM 0

8. DAVEED

Posts: 6; Member since: Oct 05, 2012

the 4s is being offered free to companies right now for the 2 year commitment. seems like a good idea to get a free phone when you can. It's a very good phone, just make sure to get a case. 23% of iphones (front or back) are cracked according to PA.

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 11:37 AM 3

9. Mxyzptlk unregistered

It's not Apple's fault if people are irresponsible at protecting their devices. That's why they make cases.

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 11:56 AM 5

11. DAVEED

Posts: 6; Member since: Oct 05, 2012

I agree - but given the choice now I would pay more for the 5 with the non glas back with or without a case.

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 12:04 PM 1

19. 14545

Posts: 1835; Member since: Nov 22, 2011

It was just a stupid design philosophy to begin with. Hey, lets make these things break as easily as possible so people are more likely break the more that people have to buy.

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 9:09 PM 0

13. g2a5b0e unregistered

Right, because phones with cases on them never break.

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 1:45 PM 7

2. riimmmmissssooooodeeaddd

Posts: 3; Member since: Feb 14, 2013

My take on BB10... BB10 is GOOD!!! Better than first version of iOS, Better than first version of Android Better than first version of Windows CE/Mobile/Phone BUT.... today is 2013, and BB10, as the name implies, is the TENTH (not ONE) version of the OS. look at WebOS. When it's introduced it seems great What's wrong??? Ecosystem.... look at WP7. Analyst predict of 30% market share. Phone arena praise them... What's wrong??? Ecosystem.... BB10 might be good (or might be bad) but it hold the same mistake... ECOSYSTEM.... In today world, when multiple OS, multiple vendor... BBM doesn't count anymore. Push Email?? all other OS also has it.. So, what BB have that other don't? nothing what other have that BB not have? Ecosystem (Developer/Apps)

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 10:34 AM 14

4. lallolu

Posts: 729; Member since: Sep 18, 2012

True, when I first started hearing about blackberry, the feature everybody was hailing then was the ability to receive regular email updates and later on, BB chat and these 2 features are basic for evey smartphones now, even feature phones.

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 10:48 AM 6

12. juanyunis

Posts: 73; Member since: Aug 31, 2012

Your post just made me realize that blackberry 7 turned into a feature phone lol.

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 1:45 PM 2

14. applesauce

Posts: 165; Member since: Aug 26, 2012

True, but once they get the Android apps easily ported over to BB, the ecosystem issue will be resolved. The OS has the power to run the JVM and with the guts being mostly the same as a GS3, there's sufficient compatibility for most everything in the Play Store. It just needs to happen ASAP. It's much what android fans are clamoring for, being a big-name company with good hardware doing their own thing but bringing android into the picture without being wholly dependent upon android. And since Blackberry isn't getting money from Microsoft like Nokia is it's a good move.

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 2:22 PM 0

16. jroc74

Posts: 6023; Member since: Dec 30, 2010

I dont about the Android ports. Hearing its just Android apps running in an emulator....doesnt sound good. Its not like a full port of something like Angry Birds coming from iOS to Android. If I'm not mistaken, iOS ports to Android are running under Android, and not an emulator, right?

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 5:51 PM 1

17. noooosamsung

Posts: 3; Member since: Feb 14, 2013

It's not that easy my friend.... 1st. Android is a moving target. The Dalvik VM player in BB10 is just playing catch up. 2nd. IF YOU TRY the dalvik VM on BB10, you'll know it still need 1-2 years. It still CRASH CRASH CRASH a lot, and it's SLOW SLOW SLOW SLOW. 3rd. Mostly the same as GS3... EXCEPT THE CPU. GS3 use QUAD CORE, where this BB10 use DUAL CORE. 4th. Developer.... android developer don't like DALVIK VM on BB10, because they will starting to receive bug report and NEGATIVE feedback from the device they NOT intended to support.

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 7:07 PM 1

3. rusticguy

Posts: 2828; Member since: Aug 11, 2012

They just can't market it seems. They should merge with Samsung :)

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 10:45 AM 0

5. noooosamsung

Posts: 3; Member since: Feb 14, 2013

NOOOOO BB was a hero of it's time. But it's not BB's time anymore. You guys really need to let it go.... let it go... let it go... let's BB Rest In Peace..... RIP.... RIP.... Merging BB with Samsung or lenovo will turn samsung/lenovo into s**t. no one want BB push email and BBM anymore. It's the era of open platform... and BBM is only work on BB.... not on android/iOS.

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 10:53 AM 7

7. DAVEED

Posts: 6; Member since: Oct 05, 2012

Nice title "shatteres confidence" and good comments but keep in mind the stock is up over 3% above where it started prior to the HD announcement. More competition the better - more inovation and more features are good for alll platforms.

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 11:12 AM 1

10. TheMan

Posts: 494; Member since: Sep 21, 2012

PA keeps trying to point to Home Depot as a sign that BB isn't competitive. It may not be, but BB failed because it was too late to be seriously considered in this reader's opinion: BB10 originally was to launch in the UK Q3 '12, six months earlier. The title is misleading. The source article from Reuters only mentions how BB's shares slipped in value after the CEO sold a portion of his stake in the company. Some investors will see that as him lacking confidence in a further climb so he's cashing out now. Whether that's true or not, there's no mention of Home Depot. It's Crackberry (and PA, apparently) still beating the drums about Home Depot.

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 12:01 PM 3

15. bluescreen

Posts: 154; Member since: Nov 22, 2012

good riddence moldy berry i hope u go bankrupt....u deserve to after neglicting ur subscribers then only deciding to revamp and update ur system once people decided to flee ur aging dated phones for something better....i have no respect for compaines like this who fail to try to stay innovative in a techie industry where things are always changing espically when they are making more than enough money off coroprate accounts to do so.....wish cr@pple wasnt getting the accounts but oh well

posted on Feb 14, 2013, 4:59 PM 3

18. XPERIA-KNIGHT unregistered

we lose confidence so easily, its sad to know that these stock investors place all their trust in one company such as home depot. its also sad to know that when ONE bad report is given people abandon ship! Does anyone have any hope in this world? Is anyone NOT so easily moved here? :(