Dubai: BlackBerry has launched its new mid-range smartphone, the Leap, on Sunday, after the Canadian company announced an unspecified number of layoffs to make its device business profitable.
Mike Al Mefleh, senior director of Product Management and Platform, Software and Services at BlackBerry Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, told Gulf News that the company is committed to the hardware devices segment and is back on track. The turnaround is running ahead of the CEO’s two-year plan.
“The company is stabilising and we [have been] generating cash for the last two to three quarters. We are going to make money from software solutions. We plan to revive our smartphone business by pushing security and messaging software to all devices,” he said.
According to research firm IDC, BlackBerry had a market share of 0.4 per cent in 2014 and is losing ground in the hardware space amid stiff competition from Apple and Samsung.
Al Mefleh said he is confident of increasing its market share with the new devices to be launched this year.
BlackBerry made $250 million (Dh919.5 million) revenues from the software segment globally last year and the company is confident of doubling it this year.
“We did a lot of work on [the] BBM platform and [we are] making money now from the enterprise and the consumer side from cross platforms — iOS, Android and Windows — by selling Stickers and Channels for consumers and Protect and Meeting [solutions] for enterprises.
On layoffs, he said the company is rebuilding itself and has a focus on strategy.
The company announced the cuts will impact those working on the software, hardware and applications side of the business.
“So, there needs to be a restructuring in certain areas and [we need to] rebuild certain areas in bid to improve efficiency. It is part of the ongoing strategy announced before and every company goes through. Sometimes the company has to take tough decisions to turn things around,” he said.
On the question of any planned layoffs in the region, he said “no idea. It is a global decision”.
He said the region has always been good for BlackBerry and is a priority for the company.
“We will balance our portfolio instead of flooding the market with many models. Last year, we launched four devices and this year two models — Classic and Leap,” he said.
