Blackberry Situation Analysis and Swot

BLACKBERRY

Situation Analysis and SWOT

Company and Corporate Partner Analysis

BlackBerry Limited (formerly Research In Motion Limited) is a telecommunication and wireless equipment company with operations in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific (MarketLine, 3). The company headquarters are situated in Ontario, Canada, where roughly 12,700 employees work in the “research, design, manufacture and sale of wireless communication products, services and software” (Ibid). In the fiscal year ended March 2013, BlackBerry noted revenues of $11,073 million, a decrease of 39.9% in revenues compared to the fiscal year 2012 (Ibid). The decrease in revenues was caused in part by the reduced selling prices of hardware products coupled with the decrease in shipment volumes.

Although BlackBerry does not have a clear mission statement, the company seeks to add value to the smartphone users experience. BlackBerry devices are known for their physical QWERTY keyboard, the sophisticated security integrated in their email, and social applications such as BlackBerry Messenger. Furthermore, BlackBerry has its own Network Operating Center (NOC), which enables its consumers to access the network securely through a direct connection, which was in particular appealing to government officials. Additionally, BlackBerry has now made their popular BlackBerry Messenger available to iPhones and Android devices, as well as created a product called Secure Work Space which allows Apple and Android users to separate their data and work apps from their personal apps (Friend). BlackBerry has had many partnerships with companies ranging from global corporations to small sized businesses, some of its largest suppliers include electronic manufacturers Jabil Circuit Inc., Elcoteq SE, Multi-fineline Electronix, QUALCOMM, and Samsung ELECT Ltd (Carr, Lau). One of BlackBerry’s largest stockholders is Fairfax Financial, which currently holds 10% of the company’s shares (CBC News).

BlackBerry has developed and molded its own cloud infrastructure for more than a decade. The infrastructure is responsible for delivering real-time data push, market-leading security, and backend integration with carrier systems (MarketLine, 4). As businesses continue to integrate cloud technology into their daily operations, BlackBerry will grow its competitive advantage in the enterprise niche.

The Research and Development department of BlackBerry is one of the finest in the industry. It consists of 6,000 full-time employees working to create breakthrough technological products with broad market applications (MarketLine, 5).

The company’s proprietary software used in many of its devices is very adaptable. Even after developing touch-screen