BlackBerry has put itself up for sale in the hope a new owner might help it turn around its struggling smartphone business.
The Canadian company said it had formed a special board committee to examine its options.

As well as a sell-off, it will look into whether strategic partnerships or joint ventures could also help speed up adoption of its new BlackBerry 10 operating system.

It was released earlier this year alongside new devices but has made little impact in a smartphone market dominated by Apple's iPhone and handsets based on Google's Android software.


BlackBerry: the 'for sale' statement in full

"Given the importance and strength of our technology, and the evolving industry and competitive landscape, we believe that now is the right time to explore strategic alternatives," said Timothy Dattels, chairman of the special committee.

BlackBerry shares were suspended in New York ahead of the announcement, but later reopened to rise 9.4pc in pre-market trading in New York. It follows a report last week that the board were increasingly open to a private equity buyer.

Prem Watsa, the chairman of the BlackBerry's biggest shareholder, Fairfax Financial, a Toronto-base private equity funder, resigned from the board. He said he supported the plan but potential conflicts of interest made it appropriate to step down.

Fairfax could emerge as a potential buyer as any foreign buyer of BlackBerry would face close scrutiny from the Canadian government, which views the company as a national champion and national security asset.

Its devices and smartphones remain popular with governments around the world for their enhanced security features.

BlackBerry chief executive Thorsten Heins said: "We continue to see compelling long-term opportunities for BlackBerry 10, we have exceptional technology that customers are embracing, we have a strong balance sheet and we are pleased with the progress that has been made in our transition.

JP Morgan has been brought in to advise the special committee as it seeks a deal.




Source: http://jimcaddy..com/2013/08/blackberry-buckles-under-immense.html

This is long overdue.

RIP Blackberry. Thanks for the sweet memories and also for the not so sweet ones too.

Please be clear when posting. They're considering alternatives doesn't only mean putting themselves up for sale. This also includes going private which'll mean they wont have to post earnings report any longer, merging with another company and if worse comes to worst...the possible option of sale.

It is so obvious Blackberry can't cope with the market forces anymore, the likes of Google's Android, Samsung Tablets, Apple and other has so much infiltrated the market that the only county they seem to still have a stronghold is in their native Canada. They have lost the Asian market, the American market long time ago and even the Nigerian market. Gone are those days when Nigerians craved for BB.. Now most people have thrown their BB phones away. So it is just natural they sell a substantial percentage to maybe Google..

Also the restriction of other third-party applications from the Blackberry App World was their major undoing. How can you explain the fact that one cannot use in-demand applications such as Instagram, Keek and even Skype (until it featured in BB10). If it was possible, Whatsapp too wouldn't have been on BB.
BB shot themselves in the foot by making everything exclusive to only BB users. Now, they decide to share the once exclusive BBM on Google Play and iStore ( a move which is coming very late).

Rubsh

jimcaddy: It is so obvious Blackberry can't cope with the market forces anymore, the likes of Google's Android, Samsung Tablets, Apple and other has so much infiltrated the market that the only county they seem to still have a stronghold is in their native Canada. They have lost the Asian market, the American market long time ago and even the Nigerian market. Gone are those days when Nigerians craved for BB.. Now most people have thrown their BB phones away. So it is just natural they sell a substantial percentage to maybe Google..

for Nigeria you might be wrong as bis is the major reason why some and not all Nigerian use bb.