BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY) Focusing On Profitability More Than Launching New Devices: Chen

 BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) Chief Executive Officer John Chen informed that launching too many new devices is not the aim of the company instead profitability is now at the focus. The company has survived and now it is looking forward at growth, Chen said.

Chen focused to keep BlackBerry running

BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) reins were taken over by John Chen in November 2013. To take the company back to its glory the new CEO has made some sincere efforts since his joining that include selling off the un-productive assets held by the company, lowering manufacturing costs by striking partnerships, broadening of app offerings and selling off of the real estate holdings in the company’s hometown of Waterloo, Ontario for raising cash.

“Once we turn this company to profitability again, I will do everything I can to never lose money ever again,” Chen told Reuters in an interview a few days back. “That is definitely something I am very focused on doing.”

Chen is confident of BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) surviving as a company. This confidence is driven by several measures taken by the company such as supply chain management, inventory management, cash management, and bringing the expenses to a manageable level.

Worst over for BlackBerry

John Chen 59 is a Hong Kong born executive, who rose to fame after his stint at Sybase. The database software firm was in a struggling phase and was rescued by Chen, who sold it to SAP for $5.8 billion in 2010 i.e. a decade later. Talking of his track record at Sybase, Chen says that the company made profits for almost 60 quarters in a row and remained profitable even when the dot-com bubble blew up. He expressed his liking for the philosophy and said that he is very optimistic about BlackBerry, and believes that the worst is behind it.

Things were very different a year ago when the company was going through a phase of painful restructuring. It’s been a year since then and under Chen’s leadership, BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) has regained a part of the swagger it had lost. New hiring’s has again started at the company and while the company is still away from making steady profits, the new CEO is acquiring small companies and making reasonable investments in growth.