After months of rumours, analysis and speculation it looks like Blackberry, the struggling Canadian handset manufacturer may be preparing to throw in the towel with an announcement that they are ‘exploring strategic alternatives’ including selling the company or entering partnership with another firm.
Despite the positive rhetoric in a statement from Timothy Dattels (the chair of the committee exploring the ‘strategic alternatives’ for Blackberry) it seems clear that the company has run out of options. With a share price that has fallen almost 40% in the last 6 months and poor handset sales the one-time industry front runner has been struggling with some suggesting a withdrawal from the handset market altogether and rumours abounding the company was planning to go private to avoid public scrutiny during its financial restructuring.
Along with a falling share price the company reported paltry sales of just 2.7 million handsets for the second quarter of this year and the Blackberry OS failed to secure a spot among the operating systems of the most popular handsets.
It’s still early days in the process so no one has come forward as a potential buyer for the beleaguered firm but it’s possible that other major manufacturers will see this as an opportunity to gain a foothold in the business market which, even now, Blackberry can still consider its heartland.
