It’s been yet another busy week in the world of BlackBerry and one that by all accounts would be preferable if wiped from memory altogether. It’s becoming all-too apparently that we’ve all been given a front-row seat to watch the slow and agonising death of what was once one of the world’s favourite and more important brands – BlackBerry’s clock is ticking and it’s only a matter of time before it’s all over.
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| BlackBerry Z30 Launch 21 (Photo credit: vernieman) |
First up, we heard toward the beginning of last week that most rumors concerning the BlackBerry Z30 smartphone were indeed right on the money. Later this year, the firm will introduce its biggest ever smartphone which will present a 5-inch 720p HD touchscreen and feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core CPU under the hood.
Sadly, response to the announcement has been anything but overwhelming for the simple reason that what we’re looking at is in fact little more than a stretched-out Z10 with an inflated price tag. And as interest in the Z10 has already all-but dried up, the Z30 isn’t likely to win over the masses.
As for whether or not this could be the last piece of BlackBerry hardware ever released, the unthinkable is starting to look more plausible by the day.
One of the only silver linings left in BlackBerry’s immediate future is/was BlackBerry Messenger, which is by rights one of the services that made the firm a global success in the first place. This free messaging service has always been exclusive to BlackBerry owners, but as of last weekend was supposed to be made available to Android and iOS users.
Sadly, despite millions downloading the app and praising the firm’s decision to open up the service, it still as of today hasn’t gone live. The reasons haven’t been fully divulged by BlackBerry, but it’s assumed it could have something to do with the third bit of bad news coming from the Waterloo ranks over recent days.
Having posted losses of over a billion dollars over the course of the last fiscal quarter, BlackBerry has confirmed that it will be shedding up to 40% of its entire global workforce. The cuts will affect every single department and will be rolled out over the coming months, as efforts are once again stepped up to save money and prevent outright collapse.
Unfortunately, it’s beginning to look like CEO Heins and Co. are trying to put a plaster on a compound fracture – the company is dying an inevitable death and nothing so far has worked.
The general consensus among analysts points to an outright sale of the company over the coming weeks, which could by rights be its only shot at survival.
It’s all so very tragic as just a few months ago when the Z10 and Q10 smartphones hit the market, BlackBerry blitzed beyond Wall Street estimates and seemed to be on its way back to the big time. Sadly, it’s since become apparent that the fate of a sinking company as a whole cannot be reversed on the back of one or two successful smartphones, particularly when factoring in the strength of the competition.
By Lisa Morton
This blog post was brought to you by Lisa Morton on behalf of Consumercheckpoint.co.uk. Lisa is a seasoned blogger that is well-versed with the latest mobile system and technology. You may add her in Google+. Click here to find out more about Consumer Checkpoint and the latest technology news.
