As John Chen weighs what to do now that he has taken the helm at BlackBerry, one longtime analyst has weighed in with his recommendations.
Wedge Partners principal Brian Blair suggests that the company can defy expectations that it will simply go out of business by rapidly scaling back its handset ambitions and focusing on low-end devices such as the Q5 released earlier this year.
“Be Hyundai,” Blair suggests. “There is room for you to exist in the mobile arena the same way that there are numerous tiers in the auto market.”
He notes that Hyundai isn’t Mercedes or BMW, but it is the fifth-largest auto maker, selling seven million cars a year.
On the app front, Blair says BlackBerry can’t possibly compete with the breadth of programs available for iOS and Android, but can work to make sure it has the top apps — even if it has to pay for them.
Here’s the complete open letter that Blair released earlier today, and it’s well worth a read, even for those who aren’t John Chen.
