BlackBerry Limited (formerly Research In Motion or RIM for short) is a Canadian software company specializing in cybersecurity. Founded in 1984, it developed the BlackBerry brand of interactive pagers, smartphones, and tablets. The company transitioned to providing software and services and holds critical software application patents.

BlackBerry Limited
FormerlyResearch In Motion Limited (1984–2013)
Company typePublic
IndustrySoftware
FoundedMarch 7, 1984; 40 years ago (1984-03-07)
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Founders
Headquarters,
Canada
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
John Giamatteo (CEO)[1]
Products
RevenueIncrease US$853 million (2024)[2]
Negative increase US$−125 million (2024)[2]
Negative increase US$−130 million (2024)[2]
Total assetsDecrease US$1.39 billion (2024)[2]
Total equityDecrease US$776 million (2024)[2]
Number of employees
2,647 (2024)[2]
SubsidiariesCylance
Websitewww.blackberry.com Edit this at Wikidata

Initially leading the mobile phone and pager industry in the 1980s and 90s, the company struggled to gain a lasting presence in the smartphone market of the new millennium. BlackBerry led the market in many countries, particularly the United States, until 2010, with the announcement of the iPhone 4. The company withered against the rapid rise of Apple Inc. and Android. After the troubled launch of the BlackBerry 10, it transitioned to a cybersecurity enterprise software and services company under CEO John S. Chen.[3] In 2018, the last BlackBerry smartphone, the BlackBerry Key2 LE, was released. In 2022, BlackBerry discontinued support for BlackBerry 10, ending their presence in the smartphone market.

BlackBerry's software products are used by various businesses, car manufacturers, and government agencies to prevent hacking and ransomware attacks. They include BlackBerry Cylance, the QNX real-time operating system; BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BlackBerry Unified Endpoint Manager), and a Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) platform.

History

edit

1984–2001: early years and growth

edit
 
Logo as Research In Motion, used prior to January 30, 2013

Research In Motion Limited was founded in March 1984 by Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin.[4] At the time, Lazaridis was an engineering student at the University of Waterloo while Fregin was an engineering student at the University of Windsor.[5] In 1988, RIM became the first wireless data technology developer in North America and the first company outside the Nordic countries to develop connectivity products for Mobitex wireless packet-switched data communications networks. Mobitex's wireless data transport also became RIM's first wireless data service that powered the Blackberry and Palm devices until it was phased out.[6] In 1990, RIM introduced the DigiSync Film KeyKode Reader.[7] In 1991, it introduced the first Mobitex protocol converter. In 1992, it introduced the first Mobitex point-of-sale solution, a protocol converter box that interfaced with existing point-of-sale terminal equipment to enable wireless communication. In 1993, it introduced the RIMGate, the first general-purpose Mobitex X.25 gateway.[citation needed] In the same year, it launched Ericsson Mobidem AT and Intel wireless modems containing RIM modem firmware. In 1994, it introduced the first Mobitex mobile point-of-sale terminal. In the same year, it received the Emmy Award for Technical Innovation and the KPMG High Technology Award. In 1995, it introduced Freedom, the first Type II PCMCIA radio modem for Mobitex. [citation needed]

In 1995, RIM was financed by Canadian institutional and venture capital investors through a private placement in the privately held company. Working Ventures Canadian Fund Inc. led the first venture round[8] with a C$5,000,000 investment with the proceeds being used to complete the development of RIM's two-way paging system hardware and software. A total of C$30,000,000 in pre-IPO financing was raised by the company prior to its initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange in January 1998 under the symbol RIM.[9]

In 1996, RIM introduced the Interactive Pager, the first two-way messaging pager, and the RIM 900 OEM radio modem. The company developed the pager prototype with the support of Intel Corporation.[10] The company worked with RAM Mobile Data and Ericsson to turn the Ericsson-developed Mobitex wireless data network into a two-way paging and wireless e-mail network. Pivotal in this development was the release of the Inter@ctive Pager 950. In August 1997, a prototype was presented to BellSouth executives, who were impressed with the device and agreed to a $70-million deal that involved the supply of 100,000 devices.[11] The pager started shipping in August 1998. About the size of a bar of soap, this device competed against the Skytel two-way paging network developed by Motorola. [citation needed]

In 1999, RIM introduced the BlackBerry 850 pager. This was also the first device to use the Blackberry OS.[12] Named after its keyboard's similarity to the druplets of the blackberry fruit,[13] the device could receive push email from a Microsoft Exchange Server using its complementary server software, BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). Its introduction set the stage for the company's future enterprise-oriented products, such as the BlackBerry 957 in April 2000, the first BlackBerry smartphone. The BlackBerry OS platform and BES continued to increase in functionality, while the incorporation of encryption and S/MIME support helped BlackBerry devices gain increased usage by governments and businesses.[14][15] During fiscal 1999-2001, RIM's assets grew eight-fold due to massive capacity expansion. [citation needed]

2001–2011: global expansion and competition

edit

RIM soon began to introduce BlackBerry devices for the consumer market as well, beginning with the BlackBerry Pearl 8100—the first BlackBerry phone to include multimedia features such as a camera. The Pearl series was highly successful, as was the subsequent Curve 8300 and Bold 9000 series. Extensive carrier partnerships fueled the rapid expansion of BlackBerry users globally in both enterprise and consumer markets. [citation needed]

Despite the arrival of the first Apple iPhone in 2007, BlackBerry sustained market share growth well into 2011. The introduction of Apple's iPhone on the AT&T network in the fall of 2007 in the United States prompted RIM to produce its first touchscreen smartphone for the competing network in 2008—the BlackBerry Storm. It sold well but suffered from mixed to poor reviews and poor customer satisfaction.[15][16] The iPhone initially lagged behind BlackBerry in both shipments and active users, due to RIM's head start and larger carrier distribution network. In the United States, the BlackBerry user base peaked at approximately 21 million users in the fall of 2010.[17][18][19] That quarter, the company's global subscriber base stood at 36 million users.[20] As the iPhone and Google Android accelerated growth in the United States, the BlackBerry began to turn to other smartphone platforms. Nonetheless, the BlackBerry line as a whole continued to enjoy success, spurred on by strong international growth. As of December 1, 2012, the company had 79 million BlackBerry users globally[21] with only 9 million remaining in the United States.[22]

Even as the company continued to grow worldwide, investors and media became increasingly alarmed about the company's ability to compete with devices from rival mobile operating systems iOS and Android. CNN cited BlackBerry as one of six endangered US-Canadian brands. Analysts were also worried about the company's management structure.[23][24]

Following numerous attempts to upgrade its existing Java platform, the company acquired QNX Software Systems to upgrade the BlackBerry platform, centered around its recently acquired real-time operating system QNX.[25] In March 2011, then-co-CEO Jim Balsillie suggested during a conference call that the "launch of some powerful new BlackBerrys" (eventually released as BlackBerry 10) would be in early 2012. However, analysts were "worried that promoting the mysterious, supposedly game-changing devices too early might hurt sales of existing BlackBerrys" (similar to the Osborne effect). The initial launch date was seen in retrospect as too ambitious and hurt the company's credibility at a time when its existing aging products steadily lost market share.[26]

On September 27, 2010, RIM announced the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, the first product running on the new QNX platform known as BlackBerry Tablet OS. The BlackBerry PlayBook was officially released to U.S. and Canadian consumers on April 19, 2011. It was criticized for being rushed to market in an incomplete state, and sold poorly. Following the shipments of 900,000 tablets during its first three quarters on market, slow sales and inventory pileups prompted the company to reduce prices and write down the inventory value by $485 million.[27]

Primary competition

edit

BlackBerry's primary competitors were smartphones running Android OS, and the Apple iPhone. For a number of years, the BlackBerry was the leading smartphone in many markets, particularly the United States. The arrival of the iPhone and later Google's Android platform caused a slowdown in BlackBerry growth and a decline in sales in some markets, most notably the United States, leading to negative media and analyst sentiment over the company's ability to continue independently.[28]

When Apple's iPhone was introduced in 2007, it generated substantial media attention, with numerous media outlets calling it a "BlackBerry killer".[29][30] While BlackBerry sales continued to grow, the newer iPhone grew at a faster rate. The 87% drop in BlackBerry's stock price between 2010 and 2013 was primarily attributed to the performance of the iPhone handset.[31]

The first three iPhone models generally lagged behind the BlackBerry in sales, as RIM had major advantages in carrier and enterprise support; however, Apple continued gaining market share. In October 2008, Apple briefly passed RIM in quarterly sales when they announced they had sold 6.9 million iPhones to the 6.1 million sold by RIM, comparing partially overlapping quarters between the companies.[32] Though Apple's iPhone sales declined to 4.3 million in the subsequent quarter[33] and RIM's increased to 7.8 million, for some investors this was a sign of weakness.[34] The iPhone began to sell more phones quarterly than the BlackBerry in 2010, brought on by the release of the iPhone 4.[35][36]

In the United States, the BlackBerry hit its peak in September 2010, with almost 22 million users, or 37% of the 58.7 million American smartphones.[37] BlackBerry then began to decline in use in the United States, with Apple's installed base in the United States finally passing it in April 2011.[38] Sales of the iPhone continued to accelerate, as did the smartphone market, while the BlackBerry began to lose users continuously in the United States. By February 2016, only 1.59 million (0.8%) of the 198.9 million smartphone users in the United States were running BlackBerry compared to 87.32 million (43.9%) on an iPhone.[39]

Google's Android mobile operating system, running on hardware by a range of manufacturers including Sony, Motorola, HTC, Samsung, LG and many others ramped up the competition for BlackBerry. In January 2010, barely 3 million (7.1%) of the 42.7 million Smartphones in use at the time in the United States were running Android, compared to 18 million BlackBerry devices (43%).[40] Within a single year Android had passed the installed base of the BlackBerry in the United States.[41] By February 2016, only 1.59 million (0.8%) of the 198.9 million smartphone users in the United States were running BlackBerry compared to 104.82 million (52.7%) running Android.[39]

While RIM's secure encrypted network was attractive to corporate customers, their handsets were sometimes considered less attractive to consumers than iPhone and Android smartphones. Developers often developed consumer applications for those platforms and not the BlackBerry.[42][43] During 2010s, even enterprise customers had begun to adopt BYOD policies due to employee feedback. The company also faced criticism that its hardware and operating system were outdated and unappealing compared to the competition, as well as that the browsing capabilities were poorer.[44]

2011–2015: layoffs and strategic changes

edit

Slowing growth prompted the company to undertake a lay-off of 2,000 employees in the summer of 2011.[45] In September 2011, the company's BlackBerry Internet Service suffered a massive outage, impacting millions of customers for several days. The outage embarrassingly occurred as Apple prepared to launch the iPhone 4S, causing fears of mass defections from the platform.[46]

Shortly afterwards, in October 2011, RIM unveiled BBX, a new platform for future BlackBerry smartphones that would be based on the same QNX-based platform as the PlayBook. However, due to an accusation of trademark infringement regarding the name BBX, the platform was renamed BlackBerry 10.[47][48] The task proved daunting, with the company delaying the launch in December 2011 to some time in 2012.[49] On January 22, 2012, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie resigned as the CEOs of the company, handing the reins over to executive Thorsten Heins.[50] On March 29, 2012, the company reported its first net loss in years.[51] Heins set about the task of restructuring the company, including announcing plans to lay off 5,000 employees, replacing numerous executives, and delaying BlackBerry 10 a second time into January 2013.[52]

BlackBerry 10

edit

After much criticism and numerous delays, RIM officially launched BlackBerry 10 and two new smartphones based on the platform, the BlackBerry Z10 and Q10, on January 30, 2013.[15][53][54] The BlackBerry Z10, the first BlackBerry smartphone running BlackBerry 10, debuted worldwide in January 2013, going on sale immediately in the U.K. with other countries following. A marked departure from previous BlackBerry phones, the Z10 featured a fully touch-based design, a dual-core processor, and a high-definition display. BlackBerry 10 had 70,000 applications available at launch, which the company expected would rise to 100,000 by the time the device made its debut in the United States. In support of the launch, the company aired its first Super Bowl television advertisement in the U.S. and Canada during Super Bowl XLVII.[55] In discussing the decision to create a proprietary operating system instead of adopting an off-the-shelf platform such as Android, Heins noted, "If you look at other suppliers' ability to differentiate, there's very little wiggle room. We looked at it seriously—but if you understand what the promise of BlackBerry is to its user base it's all about getting stuff done. Games, media, we have to be good at it but we have to support those guys who are ahead of the game. Very little time to consume and enjoy content—if you stay true to that purpose you have to build on that basis. And if we want to serve that segment we can't do it on a me-too approach."[56] Chief Operating Officer Kristian Tear remarked "We want to regain our position as the number one in the world", while Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben proclaimed "It could be the greatest comeback in tech history. The carriers are behind us. They don't want a duopoly" (referring to Apple and Samsung).[44]

During the BlackBerry 10 launch event, the company also announced that it would change its public brand from Research In Motion to BlackBerry.[57][53] The name change was made to "put the BlackBerry brand at the centre" of the company's diverse brands, and because customers in some markets "already know the company as BlackBerry".[15] A shareholder vote on an official name change to BlackBerry Limited was held at its next annual general meeting, after its ticker symbols on the TSX and NASDAQ already were changed to BB and BBRY respectively on February 4, 2013.[58][59]

On August 12, 2013, the company announced that it was open to being purchased.[60]

Prem Watsa/Fairfax Deal

edit

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's CEO Mark Wiseman stated that he would consider investing in BlackBerry if the company became private.[61] Also on August 12, 2013, foremost shareholder Prem Watsa resigned from BlackBerry's board.[62]

On September 20, 2013, the company announced it would lay off 4,500 staff and take a CAD$1 billion operating loss.[63] Three days later, the company announced that it had signed a letter of intent to be acquired by a consortium led by Prem Watsa-owned Fairfax Financial Holdings for a $9 per share deal. This deal was also confirmed by Watsa.[64]

On September 29, 2013, the company began operating a direct sales model for customers in the United States, where unlocked Q10 and Z10 smartphones were sold directly from the BlackBerry website.[65] On October 15, 2013, the company published an open letter in 30 publications in nine countries to reassure customers that BlackBerry would continue to operate.[66] Anthony Michael Sabino, St. John's University business professor, stated in the Washington Post: "This is BlackBerry's last-ditch attempt to simply survive in the face of crushing competition in a market it essentially invented."[67]

John Chen joins BlackBerry

edit

On November 4, 2013, the Fairfax Prem Watsa deal was scrapped in favor of a US$1 billion cash injection which, according to one analyst, represented the level of confidence BlackBerry's largest shareholder had in the company.[68] At the same time, BlackBerry installed John Chen as CEO to replace the laid-off Heins.[69] According to the Globe and Mail, BlackBerry's hope was that Chen, with his reputation as a turnaround artist, could save the company.[70]

"We have begun moving the company to embrace a multi-platform, BYOD world by adopting a new mobility management platform and a new device strategy," Chen explained in an open letter published shortly after his appointment. "I believe in the value of this brand. With the right team and the right strategy in place, I am confident that we will rebuild BlackBerry for the benefit of all our constituencies."[71]

In April 2014, Chen spoke of his turnaround strategy in an interview with Reuters,[72] explaining that he intended to invest in or partner with other companies in regulated industries such as healthcare, financial, and legal services. He later clarified that BlackBerry's device division remained part of his strategy and that his company was also looking to invest in "emerging solutions such as machine to machine technologies that will help power the backbone of the Internet of Things."[73] He would later expand on this idea at a BlackBerry Security Summit in July 2014.[74]

In May 2014, the low-cost BlackBerry Z3 was introduced in the Indonesian market, where the brand had been particularly popular. The budget handset was produced in partnership with Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group, which handled the design and distribution of the product. A New York Times analysis stated that the model was an attempt by Chen to generate revenue while he tried "to shift the organization's focus to services and software." As part of the localization effort for the promotion of the Z3, the handset's back panel was engraved with the word "Jakarta", but skepticism still emerged, as the handset was still more than twice as expensive as Android models in Indonesia at the time of release.[75]

2015–present: software transition

edit

In the first quarter of the 2015 fiscal year, Chen stated: "This is, of course, the very beginning of our task and we hope that we will be able to report better results going forward… We feel pretty good about where we are." Quartz reported that stock was up by 30 percent, compared to the same period in the previous year.[31]

In September 2015, Chen unveiled the BlackBerry Priv, a keyboard-slider smartphone utilizing the Android operating system with BlackBerry-developed software enhancements, including a secure bootloader, full-disk encryption, integrity protection, and the BlackBerry HUB.[76]

In 2020, BlackBerry signed a new licensing agreement for smartphones with the US-based startup company, OnwardMobility.[77] The company never released a device before shutting down in 2022.[78]

As of June 2021, Cybersecurity ($107 million) and IoT ($43 million) revenue accounted for a combined 86% of Q1 2022 earnings ($174 million). Chen reiterated: "Now, we are pivoting the organization more heavily toward the market by creating two business units, Cybersecurity and IoT… we will provide revenue and gross margin by business unit as well as other selected metrics."[79]

On January 4, 2022, BlackBerry decommissioned the infrastructure and operating system used by their non-Android phones.[80]

In October 2023, the company announced that it would spin off its IoT business unit and hold an initial public offering for it in the next year.[81][82]

Acquisitions

edit

During this time, BlackBerry also expanded its software and services offerings with several acquisitions. These included file security firm WatchDox,[83] crisis communications leader AtHoc,[84] and rival EMM vendor Good Technology.[85] The products offered by these firms were gradually re-branded and integrated into BlackBerry's own portfolio. BlackBerry also announced the release of the Good Secure EMM Suites, consolidating WatchDox and Good Technology's products into several tiered offerings alongside its existing software.[86]

Hardware licensing partnerships

edit

BlackBerry announced the DTeK50, a mid-range Android smartphone, on July 26, 2016.[87] Unlike the Priv, the DTek50 was a re-branded version of an existing smartphone, the Alcatel Idol 4 as manufactured by TCL Corporation, one of the company's hardware partners.[88] It was to be the second-last phone ever developed in-house at BlackBerry, followed by the DTek60 in October 2016 – on September 28, 2016, BlackBerry announced that it would cease in-house hardware development to focus on software, delegating development, design, and manufacturing of its devices to third-party partners.[89]

The first of these partners was BB Merah Putih, a joint venture in Indonesia. Chen stated that the company was "no longer just about the smartphone, but the smart in the phone".[90][91] On December 15, 2016, BlackBerry announced that it had reached a long-term deal with TCL to continue producing BlackBerry-branded smartphones for sale outside of Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.[92] This partnership was followed by an agreement with Optiemus Infracom on February 6, 2017, to produce devices throughout India and neighbouring markets including Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh.[93]

Since the partnerships were announced, TCL released the BlackBerry KeyOne[94] and BB Merah Putih released the BlackBerry Aurora.[95]

Cybersecurity consulting

edit

In February 2016, BlackBerry acquired UK-based cybersecurity firm Encription,[96] with the intention of branching out into the security consulting business.

BlackBerry Secure

edit

On December 8, 2016, BlackBerry announced the release of BlackBerry Secure. Billed as a "comprehensive mobile security platform for the Enterprise of Things", BlackBerry Secure deepened the integration between BlackBerry's acquisitions and its core portfolio. According to Forbes, it brings all of BlackBerry's products "under a single umbrella".[97]

Also in February 2017, analyst firm 451 Research released a report on BlackBerry's improved financial position and product focus.[98] The report identified BlackBerry's position in the Internet of Things and its device licensing strategy as strengths.

John Chen resigns from BlackBerry

edit

On October 30, 2023 John S. Chen announced his resignation as CEO through an employee letter posted to the Blackberry Limited blog page stating he will cease his role on November 4, 2023.[99]

Financials

edit

Until 2013, the number of active BlackBerry users increased over time. In the fourth quarter of fiscal year ended March 3, 2012, RIM shipped 11.1 million BlackBerry smartphones, down 21 percent from the previous quarter and it was the first decline in the quarter covering Christmas since 2006. For its fourth quarter, RIM announced a net loss of US$125 million (the last loss before this occurred in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2005).[100] RIM's loss of market share accelerated in 2011, due to the rapidly growing sales of Samsung and HTC Android handsets; RIM's annual market share in the U.S. dropped to just 3 percent, from 9 percent.[101]

In the quarter ended June 28, 2012, RIM announced that the number of BlackBerry subscribers had reached 78 million globally.[102] Furthermore, RIM reported its first quarter revenue for the 2013 fiscal year, showing that the company incurred a GAAP net loss of US$518 million for the quarter, and announced a plan to implement a US$1 billion cost-saving initiative. The company also announced the delay of the new BlackBerry 10 OS until the first quarter of 2013.[103]

After the release of the Apple iPhone 5 in September 2012, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins announced that the number of global users was up to 80 million, which sparked a 7% jump in shares.[104] On December 2, 2012, the company reported a decline in the global subscriber base of BlackBerry to 79 million, after peaking at an all-time high of 80 million the previous quarter.[34] Later that same month, media reports confirmed that BlackBerry lost US$1.049 billion during the second fiscal quarter of 2013. In the wake of the loss, Heins stated: "We are very disappointed with our operational and financial results this quarter and have announced a series of major changes to address the competitive hardware environment and our cost structure."[105]

Between 2010 and 2013, the stock price of the company dropped by 87 percent due to the widespread popularity of the iPhone. Goldman Sachs estimated that, in June 2014, BlackBerry accounted for 1 percent share of smartphone sales, compared to a peak of around 20 percent in 2009.[31]

With the release of its financial results for the first fiscal quarter of 2015 in June 2014, Chen presented a more stable company that had incurred a lower amount of loss than previous quarters. The New York Times described "a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss." Following the news release, Chen stated that BlackBerry was comfortable with its position, and it is understood that his plan for the company mainly involves businesses and governments, rather than consumers.[106]

Fiscal Year Sales ($ millions) Operating Income ($ millions) Net Income ($ millions) Active BlackBerry Subscribers
1999 47 4.8 6.4
2000 84 10 10
2001 221 (4.6) (6.2)
2002[107]  294   (58)   (28)
2003[107] 307 (64) (149) 534,000
2004[107] 595 78 52 1,069,000
2005[107] 1,350 386 206 2,510,000
2006[107] 2,066 617 375 4,900,000
2007[107] 3,037 807 632 8,000,000
2008[107] 6,009 1,731 1,294 14,000,000
2009[107] 11,065 2,722 1,893 25,000,000
2010[107] 14,953 3,507 2,457 41,000,000
2011[107] 19,907 4,739 3,444 70,000,000
2012[108] 18,423 1,497 1,164 77,000,000
2013[108][109] 11,073 (1,235) (646) 79,000,000
2014[108][109] 6,813 (7,163) (5,873) 69,000,000
2015[108][109] 3,335 (423) (304) 46,000,000
2016 2,160 (223) (208)
2017[110] 1,309 (1,181) (1,206)
2018[111] 932 283 405
2019 904 60 93
2020 1,040 (149) (152)
2021[2] 718 (2) 12

Organizational changes

edit

Leadership changes

edit

The company was often criticized for its dual CEO structure. Some saw this arrangement as a dysfunctional management structure and believed RIM acted as two companies, slowing the effort to release the new BlackBerry 10 operating system.[112][113] On June 30, 2011, an investor push for the company to split its dual-CEO structure was unexpectedly withdrawn after an agreement was made with RIM.[114]

Stock option scandal settlement

edit

In 2007, co-CEO Jim Balsillie was forced to resign as chairman as the company announced a $250 million earnings restatement relating to mistakes in how it granted stock options. Furthermore, an internal review found that hundreds of stock-option grants had been backdated, timed to a low share price to make them more lucrative.[115]

In January 2009, Canadian regulators stated that they were seeking a record penalty of US$80 million from the top two executives, co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis. Furthermore, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) pushed for Balsillie to pay the bulk of any penalty and relinquish his seat on RIM's board of directors for a period of time.[116] On February 5, 2009, several executives and directors of Research In Motion agreed to pay the penalties to settle an investigation into the backdating of stock options. The Ontario Securities Commission approved the arrangement in a closed-door meeting. Under the terms of a settlement agreement with the OSC, RIM co-chief executive officers Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, as well as chief operating officer Dennis Kavelman, jointly paid a total of C$68-million to RIM to reimburse the company for losses from the backdating and for the costs of a long internal investigation. The three were also required to pay C$9-million to the OSC. Balsillie resigned from RIM's board of directors temporarily and remained in his executive role.[117][118] In May 2010, almost immediately after the OSC sanctions expired, Balsillie was reappointed to the board in spite of strong shareholder objections.[119]

Structural and personnel changes

edit

Lazardis and Balsillie resigned as co-CEOs in January 2012.[120] After years of tension, Balsille left the company entirely, stepping down from his executive role in March 2012.[121] Following their resignations, they were replaced by a single CEO - former co-COO Thorsten Heins.[122] Heins hired investment banks RBC Capital Markets and JP Morgan to seek out potential buyers interested in RIM, while also redoubling efforts on releasing BlackBerry 10.[44]

Following the assumption of role as CEO, Heins made substantial changes to the company's leadership team. Changes included the departures of Chief Technology Officer David Yach; Chief Operating Officer Jim Rowan;[123] Senior Vice President of Software Alan Brenner;[124] Chief Legal Officer, Karima Bawa;[125] and Chief Information Officer Robin Bienfait.[126]

Following the leadership changes, Heins hired Kristian Tear to assume the role of Chief Operating Officer, Frank Boulben to fill the Chief Marketing Officer role[125] and appointed Dan Dodge, the CEO of QNX, to take over as Chief Technology Officer.[127] On July 28, 2012, Steven E. Zipperstein was appointed as the new Vice President and Chief Legal Officer.[128]

On March 28, 2013, Lazaridis relinquished his position as vice chairman and announced his resignation from the board of directors.[129] Later in the year, Heins was replaced by John S. Chen, who assumed the CEO role in the first week of November. Chen's compensation package mainly consists of BlackBerry shares—a total of 13 million—and he will be entitled to the entire number of shares after he has served the company for five years. Heins received an exit package of $22 million.[130]

Chen has a reputation as a "turnaround" CEO,[131] turning the struggling enterprise software and services organization Sybase into enough of a success to sign a merger with SAP in 2010.[132] Chen was open about his plans for BlackBerry upon joining the company, announcing his intent to move away from hardware manufacturing to focus on enterprise software such as QNX, BlackBerry UEM, and AtHoc.[133][134][135]

Workforce reductions

edit

In June 2011, RIM announced its prediction that Q1 2011 revenue would drop for the first time in nine years, and also unveiled plans to reduce its workforce.

In July 2011, the company cut 2,000 jobs, the biggest lay-off in its history and the first major layoff since November 12, 2002, when the company laid off 10% of its workforce (200 employees).[136] The lay-off reduced the workforce by around 11%, from 19,000 employees to 17,000.[137]

On June 28, 2012, the company announced a planned workforce reduction of 5,000 by the end of its fiscal 2013, as part of a $1 billion cost savings initiative.[103]

On July 25, 2013, 250 employees from BlackBerry's research and development department and new product testing were laid off. The layoffs were part of the turnaround efforts.[138]

On September 20, 2013, BlackBerry confirmed that the company will have a massive layoff of 4,500 employees by the end of 2013. This would be approximately 40 percent of the company's workforce.[139]

BlackBerry had at its peak about 20,000 employees. After CEO John Chen joined BlackBerry in 2013 there were additional layoffs in February 2015 to compete with smartphones, at which point the total employees numbered 6,225. On July 21, 2015, BlackBerry announced an additional layoff of an unspecified number of employees,[140] with another 200 laid off in February 2016.[141]

As of February 2022, the company had 3,225 employees.[2]

Mobile OS transition

edit

BlackBerry OS

edit

The BlackBerry OS was intended to operate under much different, simpler conditions such as low powered devices, narrow network bandwidth, and high-security enterprises. However, the aging platform struggled with emerging trends like mobile web browsing, consumer applications, multimedia and touch screen interfaces. Users experienced performance issues, usability problems and instability.[26]

The company tried to enhance the old platform, but ultimately decided to build a new platform with QNX at its core.[112][7]

BlackBerry Tablet OS (QNX)

edit

The BlackBerry PlayBook was the first RIM product whose BlackBerry Tablet OS was built on QNX, launched in April 2011 as an alternative to the Apple iPad. However, it was criticized for having incomplete software and a poor app selection. It fared poorly until prices were substantially reduced, like most other tablet computers released that year. The BlackBerry Tablet OS received a major update in February 2012, as well as numerous minor updates.

BlackBerry 10 (QNX)

edit

BlackBerry 10, a substantially updated version of BlackBerry Tablet OS intended for the next generation BlackBerry smartphones, was originally planned for release in early 2012. The company delayed the product several times, remembering the criticism faced by the BlackBerry Playbook launch and citing the need for it to be perfect in order to stand a chance in the market. The most recent model with this OS was the BlackBerry Leap.

Android

edit

In September 2015, BlackBerry announced the Priv, a handset running Android 5.1.1 "Lollipop". It is the first phone by the company not to run an in-house built operating system. The version of Android running on the Priv is very similar to the standard version developed by Google, with some changes to improve productivity and security. BlackBerry implemented some of the features of BlackBerry 10 within Android, such as BlackBerry Hub, BlackBerry Virtual Keyboard, BlackBerry Calendar, and BlackBerry Contacts.[142]

On July 26, 2016, a mid-range model with only an on-screen keyboard was introduced, the slim BlackBerry DTEK50, powered by the then-latest version of Android (6.0, Marshmallow) and featuring a 5.2-inch full high-definition display. BlackBerry chief security officer David Kleidermacher stressed data security during the launch, indicating that this model included built-in malware protection and encryption of all user information. By then, the BlackBerry Classic, which used the BlackBerry 10 OS, had been discontinued.[143][144]

In July 2016, industry observers expected the company to announce two additional smartphones over the subsequent 12 months, presumably also with the Android OS.[145] However, BlackBerry COO Marty Beard told Bloomberg that "The company's never said that we would not build another BB10 device."[146]

In 2018, the last Blackberry smartphone, the BlackBerry Key2 LE, was released. In 2022, BlackBerry discontinued support for BlackBerry 10, effectively ending their presence in the smartphone market.[147]

Acquisitions

edit

Through the years, particularly as the company moved towards cybersecurity, BlackBerry has made numerous acquisitions of third-party companies and technology.

Slipstream Data Inc.

edit

Slipstream Data Inc was a network optimization/data compression/network acceleration software company. BlackBerry acquired the company as a wholly owned subsidiary on July 11, 2006. The company continues to operate out of Waterloo.

Certicom

edit

Certicom Corp. is a cryptography company founded in 1985 by Gordon Agnew,[148] Ron Mullin and Scott Vanstone.

The Certicom intellectual property portfolio includes over 350 patents and patents pending worldwide that cover key aspects of elliptic-curve cryptography (ECC).[149]

The National Security Agency (NSA) has licensed 26 of Certicom's ECC patents as a way of clearing the way for the implementation of elliptic curves to protect U.S. and allied government information.[150]

On January 23, 2009, VeriSign entered into an agreement to acquire Certicom.[151] Research In Motion put in a counter-offer, which was deemed superior.[152] VeriSign did not match this offer,[153] and so Certicom announced an agreement to be acquired by RIM.[154] Upon the completion of this transaction, Certicom became a wholly owned subsidiary of RIM, and was de-listed from the Toronto Stock Exchange on March 25, 2009.

Dash Navigation

edit

In June 2009, RIM announced they would acquire Dash Navigation, makers of the Dash Express.[155]

Torch Mobile

edit

In August 2009, RIM acquired Torch Mobile, developer of Iris Browser, enabling the inclusion of a WebKit-based browser on their BlackBerry devices, which became the web browser in subsequent Java-based operating systems (BlackBerry 6, BlackBerry 7) and operating systems (QNX based BlackBerry Tablet OS and BlackBerry 10). The first product to contain this browser, the BlackBerry Torch 9800, was named after the company.

DataViz

edit

On September 8, 2010, DataViz, Inc. sold their office suite Documents To Go and other assets to Research In Motion for $50 million.[156] Subsequently, the application which allows users to view and edit Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint was bundled on BlackBerry Smartphones and tablets.

Viigo

edit

On March 26, 2010, the company announced its acquisition of Viigo, a Toronto-based company that developed the popular Viigo for BlackBerry applications, which aggregated news content from around the web. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.[157]

RIM reached an agreement with Harman International on April 12, 2010, for RIM to acquire QNX Software Systems. The acquired company was to serve as the foundation for the next generation BlackBerry platform that crossed devices.[158][159][160] QNX became the platform for the BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry 10 Smartphones.

The Astonishing Tribe

edit

The Astonishing Tribe (TAT), a user interface design company based in Malmö, Sweden, was acquired by the company on December 2, 2010.[161][162] With a history of creating user interfaces and applications for mobile, TAT contributed heavily to the user experience of BlackBerry 10 as well as the development of its GUI framework, Cascades.

JayCut

edit

In July 2011, RIM brought on JayCut, a Sweden-based company that is an online video editor.[163] JayCut technology was incorporated into the media software of BlackBerry 10.[163]

Paratek Microwave

edit

In March 2012, RIM acquired Paratek Microwave,[164] bringing their adaptive RF Tuning technology into BlackBerry handsets.

Tungle.me

edit

On September 18, 2012, it was announced that the RIM social calendaring service,[165] Tungle.me would be shut down on December 3, 2012. RIM acquired Tungle.me in April 2011.[166]

Newbay

edit

In July 2011, RIM acquired NewBay, an Irish-based company that is an online video, pics and tool for media networks editor.[167] RIM subsequently sold NewBay to Synchronoss in December 2012 for $55.5 million.[168]

Scoreloop

edit

On June 7, 2011, Scoreloop was acquired by BlackBerry for US$71 million.[169][170] It provided tools for adding social elements to any game (achievements/rewards etc.) and was central to the BlackBerry 10's Games app. On December 1, 2014, all Scoreloop services were shut down.[171]

Gist

edit

Gist was acquired in February 2011, by BlackBerry. Gist was a tool that helps users to organise and view all their contacts in one place. Gist's services closed down on September 15, 2012, in order for the company to focus on BlackBerry 10.[172]

Scroon

edit

BlackBerry Ltd. acquired Scroon in May 2013. The French startup manages Facebook, Twitter and other social-media accounts for large clients like luxury-good maker LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, wireless operator Orange SA (ORA) and Warner Bros. Entertainment. The deal was publicly announced in November 2013. According to Scroon founder, Alexandre Mars, he had not disclosed the purchase by BlackBerry before because of the "delicate media buzz" around the company. Scroon is part of BlackBerry's strategy to profit from the BlackBerry Messenger instant-messaging service by utilizing the newly unveiled BBM Channels. Financial terms were not disclosed.[173]

Movirtu

edit

Movirtu was acquired in September 2014, by BlackBerry. Movirtu is a U.K. startup that allows multiple phone numbers to be active on a single mobile device. At the time of the acquisition BlackBerry announced they would expand this functionality beyond BlackBerry 10 to other mobile platforms such as Android and iOS.[174]

Secusmart

edit

Secusmart was acquired in September 2014. The German-based company was one of the steps to position BlackBerry as the most secure provider in the mobile market. Secusmart had the agreement to equip the German Government with high secure mobile devices that encrypt voice as well as data on BlackBerry 10 devices. Those phones are currently in use by Angela Merkel and most of the ministers as well as several Departments and the Parliament.[175][non-primary source needed]

WatchDox

edit

WatchDox was an Israel-based Enterprise File Synchronization and Sharing company which specialized in securing access to documents on a cloud basis. BlackBerry acquired the company in April 2015.[176] On December 8, 2016, BlackBerry renamed WatchDox to BlackBerry Workspaces.[177]

In August 2019, BlackBerry closed down its Israel development center.[178]

AtHoc

edit

On July 22, 2015, BlackBerry announced that it had acquired AtHoc, a provider of secure, networked emergency communications.[179]

Good Technology

edit

On September 4, 2015, BlackBerry announced the acquisition of mobile security provider Good Technology for $425 million.[180] On December 8, 2016, it rebranded Good's products and integrated them into the BlackBerry Enterprise Mobility Suite, a set of tiered software offerings for its enterprise customers.[181]

Encription

edit

On February 24, 2016, BlackBerry acquired UK-based cyber security consultancy Encription.[182]

Cylance

edit

On November 16, 2018, Cylance was purchased for US$1.4 billion by BlackBerry Limited in an all cash deal.[183] The technology behind Cylance would enable BlackBerry to add artificial intelligence capabilities to its existing software products for IoT applications and other services. Cylance will run as a separate division within BlackBerry Limited's current operations.[184]

Software

edit

BlackBerry Unified Endpoint Manager (UEM)

edit

An Enterprise Mobility Management platform that provides provisional and access control over smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops with support for all major platforms including iOS, Android (including Android for Work and Samsung KNOX), BlackBerry 10, Windows 10, and Mac OS. UEM (formerly known as BES) also acts as a unified management console and server for BlackBerry Dynamics, BlackBerry Workspaces, and BlackBerry 2FA.[185]

BlackBerry Dynamics (Formerly Good Dynamics)

edit

A Mobile Application Management platform that manages and secures app data through application virtualization. The BlackBerry Dynamics suite of apps includes email, calendar, contacts, tasks, instant messaging, browsing, and document sharing. The BlackBerry Dynamics SDK allows developers to utilize the platform's security, and add functionality from BlackBerry's other solutions into their applications.[186]

BlackBerry Workspaces (Formerly WatchDox)

edit

An Enterprise File Synchronization and Sharing (EFSS) platform, Workspaces provides file-level digital rights management controls alongside file synchronization and sharing functionality. [citation needed]

BlackBerry 2FA (Formerly Strong Authentication)

edit

A two-factor, certificate-based VPN authentication solution that allows users to authenticate without requiring PINs or passwords. [citation needed]

BBM Enterprise

edit

An IP-based enterprise instant messaging platform that provides end-to-end encryption for voice, video, and text-based communication. On February 7, 2017, Blackberry released the BBM Enterprise SDK, a "Communications Platform as a Service" kit that allows developers to incorporate BBM Enterprise's messaging capabilities into their own applications. Said capabilities include secure messaging, voice, video, file sharing, and presence information.[187]

BlackBerry AtHoc

edit

An emergency communication system, AtHoc provides two-way messaging and notifications across a range of devices and platforms. On May 17, 2017, BlackBerry released AtHoc Account to help businesses more easily keep track of their staff in an emergency.[188]

SecuSUITE

edit

An anti-eavesdropping solution that provides voice, data, and SMS encryption. [citation needed]

BlackBerry QNX

edit

A real-time embedded operating system, QNX drives multiple software systems in modern auto vehicles, and forms the basis of solutions like BlackBerry Radar, an IoT-based asset tracking system for the transportation industry.[189]

BlackBerry IVY

edit

BlackBerry IVY is an edge-to-cloud vehicle data platform.[190]

Patent litigation

edit

Since the turn of the century, RIM has been embroiled in a series of suits relating to alleged patent infringement.[191]

Glenayre Electronics

edit

In 2001, Research In Motion sued competitor Glenayre Electronics Inc. for patent infringement, partly in response to an earlier infringement suit filed by Glenayre against RIM.[7] RIM sought an injunction to prevent Glenayre from infringing on RIM's "Single Mailbox Integration" patent.[192] The suit was ultimately settled in favour of RIM. [citation needed]

Good Technology

edit

In June 2002, Research In Motion filed suit against 2000 start-up and competitor Good Technology.[193] RIM filed additional complaints throughout the year.[194] In March 2004, Good agreed to a licensing deal, thereby settling the outstanding litigation.[195]

Handspring

edit

On September 16, 2002, Research In Motion was awarded a patent pertaining to keyboard design on hand-held e-mail devices. Upon receiving the patent, it proceeded to sue Handspring over its Treo device.[194][196] Handspring eventually agreed to license RIM's patent and avoid further litigation in November of the same year.[197]

During the appeals, RIM discovered new prior art that raised a "substantial new question of patentability" and filed for a reexamination of the NTP patents in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. That reexamination was conducted separately to the court cases for infringement. In February 2006, the USPTO rejected all of NTP's claims in three disputed patents. NTP appealed the decision, and the reexamination process was still ongoing as of July 2006 (See NTP, Inc. for details).

On March 3, 2006, RIM announced that it had settled its BlackBerry patent dispute with NTP.[198] Under the terms of the settlement, RIM agreed to pay NTP US$612.5 million[198] in a "full and final settlement of all claims". In a statement, RIM said that "all terms of the agreement have been finalized and the litigation against RIM has been dismissed by a court order this afternoon. The agreement eliminates the need for any further court proceedings or decisions relating to damages or injunctive relief."[199]

Xerox

edit

On July 17, 2003, while still embroiled in litigation with NTP and Good Technology, RIM filed suit against Xerox in the U.S. District of Hartford, Connecticut. The suit was filed in response to discussions about patents held by Xerox that might affect RIM's business and also asked that patents held by Xerox be invalidated.[200]

Visto

edit

On May 1, 2006, RIM was sued by Visto for infringement of four patents.[201] Though the patents were widely considered invalid and in the same veins as the NTP patents – with a judgement going against Visto in the U.K.[202][203] – RIM settled the lawsuit in the United States on July 16, 2009, with RIM agreeing to pay Visto US$267.5 million plus other undisclosed terms.[204]

Motorola

edit

On January 22, 2010, Motorola requested that all BlackBerry smartphones be banned from being imported into the United States for infringing upon five of Motorola's patents. Their patents for "early-stage innovations", including UI, power management and WiFi, are in question.[205] RIM countersued later the same day, alleging anti-competitive behaviour and that Motorola had broken a 2003 licensing agreement by refusing to extend licensing terms beyond 2008.[206] The companies settled out of court on June 11, 2010.[207]

Eatoni

edit

On December 5, 2011, Research In Motion obtained an order granting its motion to dismiss plaintiff Eatoni's claims that RIM violated Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act and equivalent portions of New York's Donnelly Act. Eatoni alleged that RIM's alleged infringement of plaintiff's '317 patent constituted an antitrust violation. Eatoni Ergonomics, Inc. v. Research In Motion Corp., No. 08-Civ. 10079 (WHP) (S.D.N.Y. Dec 5, 2011), Memorandum and Order, p. 1 (Pauley, J.).[208]

Mformation

edit

In July 2012, a U.S. federal court jury awarded damages (later overturned) of $147 million against Research In Motion. The jury decided that Research In Motion had violated patents of Mformation and calculated damages of $8 each on 18.4 million units for royalties on past sales of devices to nongovernment U.S. customers only, not including future royalty payments inside and outside the U.S.[209] On August 9, 2012, that verdict was overturned on appeal. RIM had argued that Mformation's patent claims were invalid because the processes were already being used when Mformation filed its patent application. Judge James Ware said Mformation failed to establish that RIM had infringed on the company's patent.[210]

Qualcomm

edit

On May 26, 2017, BlackBerry announced that it had reached an agreement with Qualcomm Incorporated resolving all amounts payable in connection with the interim arbitration decision announced on April 12, 2017. Following a joint stipulation by the parties, the arbitration panel has issued a final award providing for the payment by Qualcomm to BlackBerry of a total amount of U.S.$940,000,000 including interest and attorneys' fees, net of certain royalties due from BlackBerry for calendar 2016 and the first quarter of calendar 2017.[211]

Facebook

edit

On March 8, 2018, Blackberry Limited sued Facebook Inc. in federal court in Los Angeles. According to BlackBerry Limited, Facebook has built swaths of its empire on the messaging technology which was originally developed by them during the time when the Facebook chief, Mark Zuckerberg, was still living in a Harvard University dorm room.[212] Blackberry Limited alleged that many features of the Facebook messaging service infringe on Blackberry patents.[213] In January 2021, BlackBerry shares jumped 20% after settling its patent dispute with Facebook.[214]

Controversies

edit

Environmental record

edit

In November 2011, Blackberry, then RIM, was ranked 15th out of 15 electronics manufacturers in Greenpeace's re-launched Guide to Greener Electronics.[215] In its 2012 report on progress relating to conflict minerals, the Enough Project rated RIM the sixth highest of 24 consumer electronics companies.[216] In 2014, RIM partnered with Solutions for Hope to expand the number of conflict-free mineral regions in the Congo.[217]

Service outages

edit

On October 10, 2011, RIM experienced one of the worst service outages in the company's history. Tens of millions of BlackBerry users in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and North America were unable to receive or send emails and BBM messages through their phones.[218] The outage was caused as a result of a core switch failure, "A transition to a back-up switch did not function as tested, causing a large backlog of data, RIM said."[219] Service was restored on October 13, with RIM announcing a $100 package of free premium apps for users and enterprise support extensions.[220][221]

Government access to encrypted communication

edit

After a four-year stand-off with the Indian government over access to RIM's secure networks, the company demonstrated the ability to intercept consumer email and messaging traffic between BlackBerry handsets, and make these encrypted communications available to Indian security agencies. This agreement does not include its enterprise services.[222]

Through the Canadian Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, Blackberry has given its master encryption keys to law enforcement, allowing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to view communications and other encrypted information.[223] Then-CEO John Chen defended the company's sharing of data, saying "(we) have long been clear in our stance that tech companies as good corporate citizens should comply with reasonable lawful access requests."[224]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "John Giamatteo - LinkedIn". Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "US SEC: Form 10-K BlackBerry Limited". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. April 5, 2024. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  3. ^ "Inside BlackBerry's Long Reinvention". Cyberscoop. November 11, 2016. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  4. ^ "RIM: A brief history from Budgie to BlackBerry 10". Engadget. January 28, 2013. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  5. ^ "Research In Motion History" (PDF). Blackberry.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 11, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  6. ^ Gibson, Jerry D. (2017). Mobile Communications Handbook (3rd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. p. 412. ISBN 978-1-4398-1724-7.
  7. ^ a b c Hicks, Jesse (February 21, 2012). "Research, no motion: How the BlackBerry CEOs lost an empire". Archived from the original on March 30, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  8. ^ Waddell, Nick (March 29, 2010). "Meet the man who invested in Research in Motion in 1996". Cantech Letter. Archived from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
  9. ^ "Financing the BlackBerry". Blackberrynationbook.com. Archived from the original on November 4, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
  10. ^ Kale, Vivek (2014). Inverting the Paradox of Excellence: How Companies Use Variations for Business Excellence and How Enterprise Variations Are Enabled by SAP. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-4665-9216-2.
  11. ^ Howitt, Chuck (2019). BlackBerry Town: How high tech success has played out for Canada's Kitchener-Waterloo. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-4594-1438-9.
  12. ^ Gregory, Peggy; Kruchten, Philippe (2021). Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming – Workshops: XP 2021 Workshops, Virtual Event, June 14–18, 2021, Revised Selected Papers. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature. p. 98. ISBN 978-3-030-88582-3.
  13. ^ Leigh, Peter (October 13, 2022). Nostalgia Nerd's Gadgets, Gizmos & Gimmicks: A Potted History of Personal Tech. Octopus. ISBN 978-1-78157-889-6. Archived from the original on October 31, 2023. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  14. ^ "The road to BlackBerry 10: The evolution of RIM's OS and BES". ZDNet. Archived from the original on December 1, 2014. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  15. ^ a b c d "BlackBerry 10 launch: RIM changes company name to BlackBerry". Toronto Star. Bloomberg. January 30, 2013. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  16. ^ "RIM BlackBerry Storm sold 500,000 units in the first month?". phonearena. Archived from the original on September 15, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
  17. ^ "comScore Reports November 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share". comScore. January 6, 2011. Archived from the original on January 6, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  18. ^ "comScore Reports October 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share". comScore. December 3, 2010. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  19. ^ "comScore Reports September 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share". comScore. November 3, 2010. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  20. ^ "Press Release: Research In Motion Reports Third Quarter Financial Results". CrackBerry. December 17, 2009. Archived from the original on July 8, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  21. ^ "Research In Motion Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2013 Results". Marketwired. December 20, 2012. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  22. ^ "comScore Reports November 2012 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share". comScore. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on January 14, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  23. ^ "6 Endangered Brands". CNNMoney. June 24, 2014. Archived from the original on September 13, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  24. ^ Castaldo, Joe (January 19, 2012). "How management has failed at RIM - Canadian Business". Archive.canadianbusiness.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  25. ^ "Research In Motion to Acquire QNX Software Systems from Harman International". QNX. Archived from the original on May 13, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  26. ^ a b "RIM's long road to reinvent the BlackBerry". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on August 17, 2013. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  27. ^ Warren, Christina (December 2, 2011). "BlackBerry Bust: RIM Takes a $485 Million Hit on the Ailing PlayBook". Mashable. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  28. ^ "BlackBerry market share slides again amid takeover talk". The Daily Telegraph. London. January 30, 2012. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
  29. ^ "CEO Balsillie shrugs off 'BlackBerry killer'". The Star. Toronto. July 7, 2007. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  30. ^ "iPhone morphs into BlackBerry killer?". July 3, 2008. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
  31. ^ a b c John McDuling (June 30, 2014). "Investors are starting to think Blackberry has a future". Quartz. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  32. ^ "Apple Quarterly Earnings: 6.9 Million iPhones Sold, "More Phones Than RIM"". Gizmodo. Canada. October 21, 2008. Archived from the original on September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2017.
  33. ^ "Apple Reports First Quarter Results". January 21, 2009. Archived from the original on April 23, 2017. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
  34. ^ a b "RIM News Release" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on February 28, 2013. Retrieved December 2, 2012.
  35. ^ "Apple 2010 Q4 Results: 14.1M iPhone Sold, Jobs Blasts RIM". iPhone in Canada. October 18, 2010. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  36. ^ "RIM's new BlackBerry may overshadow quarterly results". Reuters. June 22, 2010. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  37. ^ "comScore Reports September 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share". November 3, 2010. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
  38. ^ "comScore Reports April 2011 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share". June 3, 2011. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
  39. ^ a b "comScore Reports February 2016 U.S. Smartphone Subscriber Market Share". comScore. April 6, 2016. Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  40. ^ "comScore Reports January 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share". March 10, 2010. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
  41. ^ "comScore Reports January 2011 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share". March 7, 2010. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  42. ^ Prosser, David (July 27, 2012). "Smartphone war moves at killer speed". Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  43. ^ NG, Gary (October 18, 2010). "Apple 2010 Q4 Results: 14.1M iPhone sold, Jobs blasts RIM". Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  44. ^ a b c Garside, Juliette (February 17, 2013). "BlackBerry's hometown waits in hope of a renaissance". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  45. ^ "RIM layoffs blamed on failure to innovate". Toronto Star. July 28, 2011. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  46. ^ Pepitone, Julianne (October 13, 2011). "BlackBerry service restored after worst outage ever". CNN Money. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  47. ^ "RIM's BBX Is Just a Pipe Dream". PC World. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  48. ^ Lawler, Richard (December 7, 2011). "RIM loses BBX trademark battle, next OS is named BlackBerry 10". Engadget. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
  49. ^ Rocha, Euan (December 16, 2011). "BlackBerry delay darkens RIM's future". Reuters. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  50. ^ "RIM co-CEOs resign, hand to job to insider". National Post. January 22, 2012. Archived from the original on November 22, 2022. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  51. ^ Melanson, Donald (March 29, 2012). "RIM announces Q4 2012 earnings, Jim Balsillie resigns from board, company plans to refocus on enterprise". Engadget. Archived from the original on September 18, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  52. ^ Smith, Chris (June 28, 2012). "BlackBerry 10 operating system delayed until 2013, says RIM". TechRadar. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  53. ^ a b "Research In Motion's BlackBerry 10 and New Devices". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  54. ^ "BlackBerry 10 to launch January 30". The Toronto Star. November 12, 2012. Archived from the original on December 26, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  55. ^ "Super Bowl to kick off cross-border ad action". Toronto: The Globe and Mail. February 2, 2013. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
  56. ^ "RIM CEO "Seriously Considered Android"". BGR. August 3, 2012. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
  57. ^ Miller, Hugo (January 30, 2013). "RIM Changes Company Name to BlackBerry". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on December 30, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2013. The company has discussed dropping the RIM name for some time, said Boulben, who was hired as marketing chief last May.
  58. ^ Krashinsky, Susan (January 30, 2013). "What's in a name? Maybe corporate survival". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Archived from the original on September 18, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  59. ^ "Research In Motion Ticker Change to Take Effect Monday, February 4". Research In Motion. January 31, 2013. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
  60. ^ Leo Mirani (August 12, 2013). "Here's who might want to buy BlackBerry". Quartz. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  61. ^ Dmitrieva, Katia; Doug Alexander (August 9, 2013). "Canada Pension Would Weigh BlackBerry Stake". Bloomberg. Bloomberg LP. Archived from the original on January 12, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  62. ^ Juliette Garside (August 13, 2013). "Investment tycoon Prem Watsa emerges as leading BlackBerry bidder". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  63. ^ Reed, Brad (September 20, 2013). "BlackBerry layoffs announcement: 4,500 job cuts, $1 billion loss - BGR". BGR. Archived from the original on November 27, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  64. ^ "Indian Billionaire Prem Watsa acquiring BlackBerry for $4.7 Billion". Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  65. ^ Darrell Etherington (September 29, 2013). "After Near-$1B Inventory Write-Down, BlackBerry Starts Selling Unlocked Smartphones Direct To U.S. Buyers". TechCrunch. AOL, Inc. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  66. ^ Rob Gillies (October 15, 2013). "BlackBerry Ad Campaign Seeks to Reassure Customers". ABC News. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  67. ^ Hayley Tsukayama (September 24, 2013). "BlackBerry agrees to be acquired by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited". Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 16, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  68. ^ "Fairfax Financial scraps bid for BlackBerry; leads $1 billion cash infusion deal". November 4, 2013. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  69. ^ "No love lost for BlackBerry, Watsa after surprise deal". Reuters India. November 6, 2013. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  70. ^ SILCOFF, SEAN (November 4, 2013). "Meet BlackBerry's John Chen, turnaround artist". Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  71. ^ "A Message from John S. Chen, BlackBerry Executive Chair and CEO". Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  72. ^ "BlackBerry CEO would consider handset unit sale, eyes investments". Reuters. April 9, 2014. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  73. ^ "Devices Business is an Important Part of Our End-to-End Strategy". Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  74. ^ "BlackBerry Security Summit: Providing Assurance in an Insecure Era". Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  75. ^ Joe Cochrane & Ian Austin (May 18, 2014). "BlackBerry's Partnership With Foxconn Signals Shifting Priorities". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  76. ^ Dummett, Ben (September 25, 2015). "BlackBerry to Launch Android Smartphone". Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Co. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  77. ^ "OnwardMobility Announces Licensing Agreement with BlackBerry to Deliver a BlackBerry 5G Smartphone". Blogs. Blackberry. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  78. ^ "OnwardMobility is dead, and so are its plans to release a 5G BlackBerry phone". Engadget. February 22, 2022. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  79. ^ "BlackBerry Limited (BB) Q1 2022 Earnings Call Transcript". The Motley Fool. June 25, 2021. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  80. ^ blogs.blackberry.com. "BlackBerry's Transformation Journey and Our Smartphone Heritage". blogs.blackberry.com. Archived from the original on January 4, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  81. ^ Turner, Nick (October 4, 2023). "BlackBerry Plans IPO for Its Internet of Things Business". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on October 31, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  82. ^ "BlackBerry to separate IoT and cybersecurity businesses, plans IPO". Reuters. October 5, 2023. Archived from the original on October 11, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  83. ^ Lopez, Maribel. "BlackBerry Snaps Up WatchDox For Content Security". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  84. ^ Dummett, Ben (July 22, 2015). "BlackBerry to Buy Crisis-Communications Software Firm AtHoc". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  85. ^ "It's a Good Day: BlackBerry Completes Good Technology Acquisition". Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  86. ^ Sacco, Al. "BlackBerry debuts EMM fruits of Good deal". CIO. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  87. ^ Cheng, Roger (July 26, 2016). "BlackBerry's cheaper DTek 50 skips the keyboard, but keeps Android". CNet. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  88. ^ "BlackBerry rebrands Chinese smartphone, creates the $299 BlackBerry DTek50". Ars Technica. July 26, 2016. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  89. ^ "BlackBerry bails on building its own phones". CNet. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  90. ^ "BlackBerry bails on building its own phones". CNet. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  91. ^ "BlackBerry to outsource smartphone manufacturing from now on". CBC News. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  92. ^ "TCL signs an exclusive deal to build BlackBerry-branded phones". TechCrunch. December 15, 2016. Archived from the original on November 6, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  93. ^ "Optiemus to make BlackBerry phones for India". The Hindu Business Line. February 6, 2017. Archived from the original on August 2, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  94. ^ Hughes, Matthew (May 16, 2017). "BlackBerry KeyOne review: Yes, you still want a physical keyboard in 2017". The Next Web. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  95. ^ "BlackBerry Aurora with 5.5-inch display, Snapdragon 425 SoC launched in Indonesia". The Indian Express. March 10, 2017. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  96. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (February 24, 2016). "BlackBerry Buys UK's Encription To Kickstart A New Cybersecurity Consultancy". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  97. ^ "BlackBerry Secure: IoT security goes mobile with new enterprise platform". TechRepublic. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  98. ^ "BlackBerry is back: strategy and product updates point the way forward". 451 research. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  99. ^ "BlackBerry names new CEO". LinkedIn. December 11, 2023. Archived from the original on December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  100. ^ "RIM posts loss as new CEO begins to clean house". Reuters. March 30, 2012. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  101. ^ "Google's Android Gains Share in Smartphone-Survey". May 15, 2012. Archived from the original on September 18, 2018. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  102. ^ "Research In Motion Reports First quarter Results" (PDF). June 28, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 7, 2016.
  103. ^ a b "RIM News Release" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 7, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
  104. ^ "RIM shares rise on new phone hopes". The Globe and Mail. Canada. September 25, 2012. Archived from the original on September 15, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  105. ^ Farivar, Cyrus (September 28, 2013). "True to its recent prediction, BlackBerry lost over $1 billion last quarter". Arts Technica. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  106. ^ Austin, Ian (June 19, 2014). "BlackBerry's Earnings Point to Signs of Stabilizing". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  107. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Research In Motion Year-Over-Year Growth". Press Release. GuruFocus. May 23, 2011. Archived from the original on April 23, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  108. ^ a b c d "10 Year Financial Data of BlackBerry Ltd (NAS:BBRY)". GuruFocus. Archived from the original on July 2, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  109. ^ a b c Arthur, Charles (September 29, 2014). "Ten things to know about BlackBerry -- and how much trouble it is (or isn't) in". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  110. ^ "BlackBerry Annual Information Form for Fiscal 2017" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  111. ^ "BlackBerry Annual Information Form for Fiscal 2018" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on July 18, 2019. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  112. ^ a b Marlow, Iain (January 27, 2013). "RIM's long road to reinvent the BlackBerry". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Archived from the original on August 17, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  113. ^ Ogg, Erica (June 30, 2011). "Anonymous letter bemoans RIM management woes". Archived from the original on August 2, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  114. ^ Ogg, Erica (June 30, 2011). "RIM investors pull proposal to split CEO role". CNET. Archived from the original on August 2, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
  115. ^ Martin, Richard (March 10, 2007). "RIM's Stock Options Blunder – RIM". InformationWeek. Archived from the original on June 16, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
  116. ^ "RIM CEOs may face C$100 million penalty: report – Yahoo! Canada Finance". Ca.news.finance.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on January 26, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
  117. ^ "R.I.M. Officers Settle Backdating Case". The New York Times. February 6, 2009. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2010.
  118. ^ "This page is available to GlobePlus subscribers". Toronto: Business.theglobeandmail.com. Archived from the original on February 8, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
  119. ^ Bent, Kristin. "An Inside Look At Where RIM Went So Wrong | CRN". www.crn.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  120. ^ Bohn, Dieter (January 23, 2012). "RIM: Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis step down, co-COO Thorsten Heins is the new CEO". The Verge. Archived from the original on February 16, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  121. ^ Russolillo, Steven. "RIMM Results Not So Hot; Balsillie Resigns From Board". WSJ. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  122. ^ "RIM Press Release". January 22, 2012. Archived from the original on January 23, 2012. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  123. ^ "RIM Q4 Fiscal 2012 earnings: Balsillie resigns, 11.1 million smartphones and 500,000 PlayBooks shipped". CBC News. March 29, 2012. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  124. ^ "RIM loses two more executives following poor Q4 results". CBC News. April 8, 2012. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  125. ^ a b "Karima Bawa, RIM's Chief Legal Officer, Leaves Company As New Round Of Layoffs Looms". CBC News. May 28, 2012. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  126. ^ "BlackBerry CIO Robin Bienfait Abruptly Retires from RIM". January 4, 2013. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  127. ^ "RIM posts loss as new CEO begins to clean house". Reuters. April 2010. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  128. ^ Research in motion reports first quarter fiscal 2013 results (PDF), July 28, 2012, archived (PDF) from the original on March 3, 2016, retrieved May 21, 2013
  129. ^ "BlackBerry reports fourth quarter and year-end results for fiscal 2013" (PDF). March 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  130. ^ Wasserman, Todd (November 12, 2013). "New BlackBerry CEO Scores $88M Compensation Package". Mashable. Archived from the original on July 30, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  131. ^ Gallant, Eric Knorr and John. "Sybase CEO John Chen: Tale of a Turnaround". ITworld. Archived from the original on February 13, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  132. ^ Patterson, Mark. "Why would SAP buy Sybase? Hint: It's not for the database". ITworld. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  133. ^ "Net Neutrality: No on Reclassification, Yes on Adding Content & App Providers". Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  134. ^ "Lawful Access, Corporate Citizenship and Doing What's Right". Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  135. ^ SILCOFF, SEAN (November 4, 2013). "Meet BlackBerry's John Chen, turnaround artist". Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  136. ^ McQueen, Rod. BlackBerry. pp 201. Key Porter Books. 2010
  137. ^ Singh, Gurmukh (July 26, 2011). "Grim scenes as Blackberry cuts 2,000 jobs". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
  138. ^ "BlackBerry Fired 250 People Today". Business Insider. July 25, 2013. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  139. ^ "BlackBerry Confirms Massive Layoffs, Reveals ~$1 Billion Loss In Q2 2014". TechCrunch. September 20, 2013. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  140. ^ David Friend (July 21, 2014). "BlackBerry cuts jobs, shifts employees as part of turnaround plan". The Star. Toronto. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  141. ^ "BlackBerry Layoffs To Affect 200 Workers In Canada, Florida". HuffPost Canada. February 5, 2016. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  142. ^ "Secure Smartphones - Secure Devices - BlackBerry Devices". www.blackberry.com. Archived from the original on September 22, 2019. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  143. ^ The Canadian Press (July 26, 2016). "BlackBerry launching new smartphone with emphasis on beefed up security". CBC News. CBC. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  144. ^ Cheng, Roger (July 26, 2016). "BlackBerry's cheaper DTEK 50 skips the keyboard, but keeps Android". CNET. CBS Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  145. ^ Bunton, Cam (July 26, 2016). "BlackBerry DTEK50: Release date, specs and everything you need to know". Pocket Lint. Pocket Lint Ltd. Archived from the original on November 29, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  146. ^ Lee, Tyler. "BlackBerry Not Ruling Out Future BB10 Smartphones". Ubergizmo. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2016. However with the rumors suggesting multiple Android devices in the works, we have to wonder where they will find the time to launch BB10 devices.
  147. ^ "BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry OS Services FAQ — End of Life". www.blackberry.com. Archived from the original on January 1, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  148. ^ "Technology Transfer Partners of University of Waterloo". University of Waterloo web site. Archived from the original on September 12, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
  149. ^ Shufelt, Tim (June 12, 2007). "Patents key to Certicom's future". Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on March 4, 2024. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  150. ^ "The Case for Elliptic Curve Cryptography - NSA/CSS". nsa.gov. Archived from the original on January 17, 2009.
  151. ^ "News from VeriSign, Inc". Press.verisign.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
  152. ^ "Certicom Announces Agreement for Acquisition by RIM for C$3.00 per Common Share". Certicom. February 5, 2009. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  153. ^ "Certicom Receives Notification from VeriSign that it Will Not Match RIM Offer". Certicom. February 10, 2009. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  154. ^ "Certicom Announces Agreement for Acquisition by RIM for C$3.00 per Common Share". Certicom. February 10, 2009. Archived from the original on October 3, 2009. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  155. ^ Lendino, Jamie (June 5, 2009). "Research in Motion Acquires Dash Navigation & Opinion". PCMag.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2018. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
  156. ^ Bradley, Tony (September 8, 2010). "RIM Buys "Documents To Go", But Microsoft Missed Out". PC World. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  157. ^ "RIM Acquires BlackBerry-App Maker Viigo". March 28, 2010. Archived from the original on August 2, 2020. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  158. ^ "Research In Motion to Acquire QNX Software Unit from Harman International". April 9, 2010. Archived from the original on April 12, 2010. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
  159. ^ "Research In Motion to Acquire QNX Software Systems from Harman International". April 2010. Archived from the original on November 6, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
  160. ^ "Research in Motion to buy QNX Software". April 12, 2010. Archived from the original on April 15, 2010. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
  161. ^ Waddell, Nick (December 3, 2010). "Is RIM set to make an astonishing comeback with The Astonishing Tribe?". Cantech Letter. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  162. ^ "RIM welcomes TAT!". Research In Motion Inc. December 2, 2010. Archived from the original on June 23, 2012. Retrieved December 2, 2010.
  163. ^ a b King, Rachel (July 22, 2011). "RIM adds another deck chair with JayCut". ZDNet. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  164. ^ "RIM Acquires Paratek Microwave Inc for RF Tuning Technologies". BerryReview. March 8, 2012. Archived from the original on January 6, 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  165. ^ Lardinois, Frederic (September 18, 2012). "RIM To Shut Down Tungle.Me, Team Will Focus On BlackBerry 10 Calendar App". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved February 5, 2015. Last year, BlackBerry maker RIM acquired the social calendaring app Tungle.me.
  166. ^ "Life is About the Journey". Tungle.me. Archived from the original on September 20, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  167. ^ "RIM compra irlandesa NewBay" [RIM buys NewBay Irish]. AETecno (in Spanish). AméricaEconomía. July 10, 2011. Archived from the original on October 9, 2011.
  168. ^ "Investor Relations - Press Release". Synchronoss. Archived from the original on October 18, 2015. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
  169. ^ "RIM buys social game maker Scoreloop". Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  170. ^ "Will RIM End Up In Dell's Arms?". Sramana Mitra. June 29, 2011. Archived from the original on January 10, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  171. ^ "Scoreloop : Termination Notice". scoreloop.com. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  172. ^ Bla1ze (August 15, 2012). "Gist.com sunsets as the company goes all in with RIM and BlackBerry 10". CrackBerry. Archived from the original on June 6, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  173. ^ Zeis, Adam (November 21, 2013). "BlackBerry acquired community management company Scroon in May". CrackBerry. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  174. ^ Protalinski, Emil (September 11, 2014). "BlackBerry acquires virtual SIM startup Movirtu, plans to support all major smartphone operating systems". thenextweb. Archived from the original on September 20, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  175. ^ "BlackBerry's Acquisition of Secusmart Rocks the Web - Inside BlackBerry". blackberry.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2015. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  176. ^ "Securing Your Mobile Corporate Content: A Conversation with WatchDox and BlackBerry". blackberry.com. Archived from the original on April 25, 2015. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  177. ^ Speculations, Great. "What BlackBerry Aims To Achieve With Its Latest Security Offering". Forbes. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  178. ^ "BlackBerry to close Israel development center". Globes (in Hebrew). August 25, 2019. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  179. ^ "BlackBerry to buy messaging alerts firm AtHoc to expand software base". Reuters. July 22, 2015. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  180. ^ Edmonds, Rich (September 4, 2015). "BlackBerry to acquire Good Technology for $425 million". Crackberry. Archived from the original on September 4, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  181. ^ "Is Your Enterprise Mobile Strategy Good? Now It's Even Better with BlackBerry Enterprise Mobility Suite". Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  182. ^ Lunden, Ingrid. "BlackBerry Buys UK's Encription To Kickstart A New Cybersecurity Consultancy". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  183. ^ Kahn, Jeremy (November 16, 2018). "BlackBerry to Buy Security Firm Cylance for $1.4 Billion". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on September 2, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  184. ^ "BlackBerry Will Buy Cybersecurity Firm Cylance for $1.4 Billion". Fortune. November 16, 2018. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  185. ^ "BlackBerry has integrated all their EMM acquisitions. Now they need a fresh marketing effort". BrianMadden. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  186. ^ "Why BlackBerry Dynamics Could Be the Missing Piece of Your App Security Puzzle". Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  187. ^ "BlackBerry picks fight with Twilio, opens up BBM Enterprise to developers". IT World Canada. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  188. ^ "Leave No One Behind with the New BlackBerry AtHoc Account". Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  189. ^ "IoT-Enabled BlackBerry Radar Will Empower Truck Companies to Cut Theft, Boost Profits". Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  190. ^ "Mitsubishi Electric Selects BlackBerry". Aussie Osbourne. Archived from the original on September 26, 2023. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
  191. ^ Orlowski, Andrew (September 24, 2002). "Palm'sTungsten and MIMS target RIM's LIMs". The Register. Archived from the original on November 21, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  192. ^ "Research In Motion Files Wireless Patent Complaint Against Glenayre Electronics, Inc". Research In Motion. May 17, 2001. Archived from the original on July 17, 2009.
  193. ^ "RIM unleashes more lawyers on Good". The Register. Archived from the original on July 18, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  194. ^ a b "RIM sues Handspring, Good". CNET. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  195. ^ "Good Technology settles with Lawsuits in Motion". The Register. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  196. ^ Orlowski, Andrew (September 19, 2002). "RIM granted handheld email patent – clobbers Handspring". The Register. Archived from the original on July 15, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  197. ^ "Handspring settles Lawsuits in Motion suit". The Register. Archived from the original on October 24, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  198. ^ a b Kelley, Rob (March 3, 2006). "BlackBerry maker, NTP ink $612 million settlement". money.cnn.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  199. ^ Vance, Ashlee (March 3, 2006). "RIM puts $613m settlement in motion". The Register. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  200. ^ Smith, Tony (July 29, 2003). "Lawsuits In Motion files suit against Xerox". The Register. Archived from the original on October 24, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  201. ^ "Intellectual Property Professional Information Center: Visto Corp. Sues BlackBerry Maker RIM". Ipcenter.bna.com. Archived from the original on August 20, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
  202. ^ Phillips, Jeremy. "More brinksmanship as RIM fends off Visto patent". The IPKat. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2008.
  203. ^ Floyd, Honourable Justice. "Judgement, [2008] EWHC 335 (Pat), Case No: HC-06-C03912 and HC-06-C04227". Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
  204. ^ "Research In Motion and Visto Corporation Sign Definitive Agreement to Settle Outstanding Litigation". Archived from the original on July 11, 2011.
  205. ^ "Motorola asks ITC to ban BlackBerry imports". Engadget. January 22, 2010. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
  206. ^ Desmond, Maurna (February 18, 2008). "It's War for RIM and Motorola". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  207. ^ "motorola one zoom: perfect from every perspective". The Official Motorola Blog. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  208. ^ Nevins, Thomas (December 30, 2011). "RIM Defeats Sherman Act Section 2 Claims At Pleading Stage". The National Law Review. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
  209. ^ Gullo, Karen (July 14, 2012). "RIM Must Pay $147 Million Over Mformation Patent". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  210. ^ "RIM wins patent appeal, but Samsung denies rumours of tie-up". Financial Post. August 9, 2012. Archived from the original on August 10, 2012. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  211. ^ Limited, BlackBerry (May 26, 2017). "BlackBerry Announces Final Award in Qualcomm Arbitration". GlobeNewswire News Room (Press release). Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2019. {{cite press release}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  212. ^ "BlackBerry Seeks New Life From Old Patents to Stem Sales Decline". Bloomberg.com. March 7, 2018. Archived from the original on September 4, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  213. ^ Shinal, Sara Salinas, John (March 6, 2018). "BlackBerry is suing Facebook for patent infringement". CNBC. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  214. ^ "BlackBerry jumps 20% after settling patent dispute with Facebook". Archived from the original on January 26, 2021.
  215. ^ Gersmann, Hanna (November 9, 2011). "BlackBerry maker hits bottom of green electronics rankings". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  216. ^ Lezhnev, Sasha; Alex Hellmuth (August 2012). "Taking Conflict Out of Consumer Gadgets: Company Rankings on Conflict Minerals 2012" (PDF). Enough Project. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 22, 2012. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  217. ^ Team, Enough (March 13, 2014). "Motorola Solutions and AVX Expand Solutions for Hope in Democratic Republic of the Congo". The Enough Project. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  218. ^ Arthur, Charles (October 17, 2011). "BlackBerry service crash affects BBM messaging for millions". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  219. ^ "BlackBerry woes caused by 'core switch failure'". AJC. October 11, 2011. Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  220. ^ "BlackBerry Service Update". Rim.com. Archived from the original on September 19, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
  221. ^ "Research In Motion Offers Free Premium Apps to Customers Following Service Interruptions". Press.rim.com. October 17, 2011. Archived from the original on December 6, 2011. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
  222. ^ "BlackBerry maker Research in Motion agrees to hand over its encryption keys to India". The Times Of India. August 2, 2012. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  223. ^ Whittaker, Zack. "Canadian police 'obtained' BlackBerry master encryption key". ZDNet. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  224. ^ "CEO Says BlackBerry Stood By 'Principles' in Investigation". Digital Trends. April 18, 2016. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2024.

Further reading

edit
edit
  • Official website  
  • Business data for BlackBerry Limited:
  • Hoovers - BlackBerry Ltd. profile

43°31′02″N 80°30′57″W / 43.5171578°N 80.5158791°W / 43.5171578; -80.5158791