BlackBerry's sellout of 200,000 Passport handsets pales in comparison with the tens of millions of smartphones another manufacturer moved in advance orders, but the demand for the square-faced enterprise phone is a marked success in the conservative restructuring strategy BlackBerry CEO John Chen is following for his struggling company's long-term recovery.
Just a day after its launch, BlackBerry's latest smartphone, the Passport, sold out on the company's website and on Amazon. The Passport, with its square, 4.5-inch face, is designed to maximize productivity and attract a grassroots following of new enterprise fans, according to Chen, who said the device's screens are better-suited to deliver business apps and data. Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, he says, are more compatible with entertainment apps.
While BlackBerry reported it is still-dripping losses, the company's second quarter report, which ended on Aug. 30, revealed its finances are in better shape than analysts and investors anticipated. Its revenue and shares were down from the previous quarter, a net lost of $207, two cents per share, but it lost $248 million, 47 cents per, during the same period a year earlier.
When Chen took the reins of BlackBerry in late 2013, he came in with a plan to tighten the company's fiscal belt and operate at a much smaller scale. With the bleeding all but stopped, Chen says it's time for the company to work on growth.
"Our workforce restructuring is now complete, and we are focusing on revenue growth with judicious investments to further our leadership position in enterprise mobility and security," says Chen.
BlackBerry's relatively small stock of Passport handsets is the execution of the company's new hardware strategy, but it's going a bit bolder on the software side of things.
BlackBerry's new Blend application uses smartphones as hubs to serve as local cloud servers for connected devices, helping restore faith in the company's devotion to delivering security solutions for enterprise users. BlackBerry is also preparing to release BlackBerry 12, its latest operating system and a platform the company hopes will bring past believers back into the fold.
"The product is broader and deeper and has history with most customers," Chen stated about BlackBerry's hardware and software offerings. "I have spoken to many executives and people are very interested in working with us. Our technology works and works well. Governments use it and major banks use it. We're winning them back -- knock on wood, I don't want to be overconfident -- and we're starting to see that with very big companies."
Note: Headline corrected to read Passport on Oct. 20.
