A GLIMPSE BEHIND BLACKBERRY’S DOWNFALL

A Glimpse Behind BlackBerry’s Downfall

Remember those times when everybody was rushing to buy their own BlackBerry? The wide, unique mobile phone with a traditional keypad has lured millions of users for quite a couple of years, with its seemingly cool exterior and work-friendly software. This was during the mid 2000s, when it’s like each person you meet on the street own one of those gadget. Unfortunately, it also declined as quickly as its soared, and before they know it, BlackBerry was plagued with a string of negative financial reports, plunging figures, and deteriorating stock. It was every company’s worst nightmare, and a typical tragic story that serves as a lesson for every business.

Its shares started from a moderate $28 in 2006, which continued to rise until the following year when it climbed $43.09. It reached its peak in 2008 at $148, but did a sudden turn around, tumbling by 73%. It tried to claw its way back and managed to settle into fluctuating metrics ranging close to their starting amount. 2012 was probably the lowest point for the device, as the stock downward trend prevailed, dragging it below $15. Despite a rally early the next year, the recovery was short lived as they dived again by before the year closed.

Its operating history was marked with a swift hike on top of the market, and a hasty failure as well. After a remarkable boost of 57% annually and hitting $20 billion in terms of revenue, it slid to $2.2B in the present fiscal, decreasing by an average rate of 36% per annum.

Its fundamentals soured after falling out of preference by majority of consumers, especially after the famous touch screen phones emerged. People flocked to purchase these upgraded versions, highly attracted to their trendy external features as well as applications. Whereas BlackBerry remained stuck to a mirror of a physical keyboard and focused on mails rather than apps, the latest mobiles were considered as more user-friendly, and a lot more entertaining because it enables web browsing.

As a result, the BlackBerry blurred even more, and continued to serve investors bad news, raising worries. It tried multiple measures of restructuring, from changing CEOs to narrowing their focus. Presently, it was forced to concentrate on areas such as Africa, after failing to cope up with big time competitors. Several potential acquisitions also proved to be unsuccessful, as doubts on being able to salvage their crisis overshadowed interested firms. Just recently, it released an announcement of officially quitting the manufacture of cellphones, choosing to shift their target on software enhancement instead.