LowIQinvestor Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 UPDATE: Amendment from Fairfax on BlackBerry Shows Raised Stake from 10.5% as of Feb. 11th to 16.8% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepydragon Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 a video about QNX in cars. very impressive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txlaw Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 iOS in the Car is now Carplay: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57619795-94/apple-carplay-to-bring-iphone-experience-to-your-next-cars-dashboard/ As I indicated before, CarPlay runs on top of the embedded software in these cars (i.e., QNX). There's no reason to think that manufacturers won't be taking the same approach with Android and maybe even Windows. QNX does indeed have a place in the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wellmont Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 if qnx stakes out the "embedded" space and not the service space then it's place in the car has questionable value for shareholders. embedded OS is the very definition of commodity. it's truly amazing the lack of disclosure about this supposedly important division of bbry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepydragon Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I disagree that "embedded space" is a commodity. Look at windows. It was not a commodity. An embedded OS need a lot of works to be customized to certain hardware. It's not easy to do. Look at how many embedded OS there is. Android is free, but the cost of modifying Android to run on the car's hardware is about the same cost you have a windows CE or probably higher than qnx. For service, anybody can write the code, in any language, as long as you have the spec. you can hire a huge team in india or china to do it at very low cost. But for embedded OS, it's not easy. We are talking about running something and guarantee its performance within mili seconds. For example, when you guide the missiles to the targets and balancing the wheels when car is driving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moody202 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 John Chen Interview -- FT.com http://video.ft.com/3291969030001/Changing-BlackBerrys-fortunes/mostpopular Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fareastwarriors Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Come back time? http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-28/blackberry-loss-smaller-than-expected-as-chen-reforms-take-root.html BlackBerry Loss Less Than Estimated as Reforms Take Root Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wellmont Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Sales in the fiscal fourth quarter fell 64 percent from a year earlier to $976 million, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company said in a statement. That compared with the analysts’ average estimate of $1.11 billion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCG Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 A $423 million loss last quarter and a $5.9 billion loss for the full fiscal year. Sounds like they're doing awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepydragon Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 most of the 400 millions loss is due to valuation adjust on the convertiable bond due to the share price increase! excluding that i think they lost only about 50 million, inventory is down, new products on schedule, bbm gained more users, QNX still the dominate player in car info systems. I bought at 6. now I am tempted to buy more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alertmeipp Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Wow.. what a swing. Interesting to see how the news and commentary changes as the share price swinging upside down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCG Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 most of the 400 millions loss is due to valuation adjust on the convertiable bond due to the share price increase! excluding that i think they lost only about 50 million, inventory is down, new products on schedule, bbm gained more users, QNX still the dominate player in car info systems. I bought at 6. now I am tempted to buy more. Didn't they have a huge tax credit this quarter though (or was that last quarter)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daytripper Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 I disagree that "embedded space" is a commodity. Look at windows. It was not a commodity. An embedded OS need a lot of works to be customized to certain hardware. It's not easy to do. Look at how many embedded OS there is. Android is free, but the cost of modifying Android to run on the car's hardware is about the same cost you have a windows CE or probably higher than qnx. For service, anybody can write the code, in any language, as long as you have the spec. you can hire a huge team in india or china to do it at very low cost. But for embedded OS, it's not easy. We are talking about running something and guarantee its performance within mili seconds. For example, when you guide the missiles to the targets and balancing the wheels when car is driving. I was under the impression that making it work with certain hardware was simply an issue of coding some FPGAs. I don't think the timing performance is that big of a problem either. Most commercial aircraft controllers work within these parameters without any problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moody202 Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 The new CEO is smart and it is likely that he will get the handset bleeding under control. However, to be a viable/growth company, they have to hit on BBM, QNX and Enterprise Software (MDM) markets. All these are new areas where they have to displace competition, maybe except for QNX. Using the classic value principals, I don't see a moat here, neither do I see predictability of future cash flows, so I am not a buyer. The best thing that can happen to BBY is that they clean up shop and them get bought out.....by Microsoft maybe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alertmeipp Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 The new CEO is smart and it is likely that he will get the handset bleeding under control. However, to be a viable/growth company, they have to hit on BBM, QNX and Enterprise Software (MDM) markets. All these are new areas where they have to displace competition, maybe except for QNX. Using the classic value principals, I don't see a moat here, neither do I see predictability of future cash flows, so I am not a buyer. The best thing that can happen to BBY is that they clean up shop and them get bought out.....by Microsoft maybe! Yes, it is much easier for someone to buy a business that is not collapsing - remember the inventory obligation that said will cost buyer billions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nnayyar Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 The big Fairfax shareholder meeting is this coming Tuesday I believe. Is it possible that Chen shows up or will speak at the event? My experience w/Fiarfax SH meetings are quite limited compared to many here. I'm assuming Prem will speak about the position in a positive light? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nnayyar Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 Chou funds doubled position in BBRY and 5% of portfolio: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/chou-funds-triples-investment-blackberry-200955894.html Also just wanted to bump my previous question, if there is any expectation out of the Fairfax SH meeting on tuesday regarding this stock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_Hamilton Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 The big Fairfax shareholder meeting is this coming Tuesday I believe. Is it possible that Chen shows up or will speak at the event? My experience w/Fiarfax SH meetings are quite limited compared to many here. I'm assuming Prem will speak about the position in a positive light? It's next Wednesday morning, the 9th. Scared me regarding my ticketing for a moment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nnayyar Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 The big Fairfax shareholder meeting is this coming Tuesday I believe. Is it possible that Chen shows up or will speak at the event? My experience w/Fiarfax SH meetings are quite limited compared to many here. I'm assuming Prem will speak about the position in a positive light? It's next Wednesday morning, the 9th. Scared me regarding my ticketing for a moment! lol, didn't mean to scare you! So as a SH and going to the meeting, BBRY is one of your biggest positions. Do you have any expectation from this meeting or is it mostly fluf? Is Chen expected to speak? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wellmont Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 CEO pretty much says they will exit handsets. http://www.torontosun.com/2014/04/09/blackberry-may-consider-exiting-handsets-eyes-investments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCG Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Sounds like he has no idea what to do, and will be moving to a 'throw stuff at the wall and see if anything sticks' plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepydragon Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 I feel he is saying he still think he can make profit on the device business. "If I cannot make money on handsets, I will not be in the handset business," John Chen said in an interview, adding that the time frame for such a decision was short. He would not be more specific, but said it should be possible to make money off shipments of as few as 10 million a year." The article is taking words out of context. 'throw stuff at the wall and see if anything sticks" - I think that's a good strategy. I remember Amazon's CEO said something like that in a CNBC interview many years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wellmont Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 sometimes investing or human communication involves figuring out the subtext. CEOs are masters at not saying things. No he did not say he is exiting the device business. However, an individual is free to interpret what he is saying here, and what he has said in the past, any way they desire. I am on record, from the day he was hired (and well before that), that bbry will exit the device business. But this will eventually be a good thing! So shareholders should hope he finds a way to do this while "saving face". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wellmont Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 i recall the former bbry ceo also had to do a lot of damage control after he said stuff... http://blogs.blackberry.com/2014/04/not-leaving-handsets/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCG Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 'throw stuff at the wall and see if anything sticks" - I think that's a good strategy. I remember Amazon's CEO said something like that in a CNBC interview many years ago. No, it's not a good strategy. It's something overfunded startups and companies in a freefall do. BBRY is burning through cash too quickly for that strategy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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