SWOT Analysis of Blackberry - Essay Example

? Blackberry Blackberry Executive Summary Blackberry is an electronics company that specializes in the production of hand heldwireless mobile phones. The services and features of Blackberry cellphones are marketed and designed by Research In Motion limited. The original Blackberry design was created in Canada in 1996 (Daidj, 2013, 20). However, the first device that was produced by the company was released in 1999 and was in the form of an email pager. The latest product released was a cellphone in January 2013 (Daidj, 2013, 20). The Blackberry cellphone brand as a variety of designs which rage from QWERTY keyboard cellphones to virtual keyboard and multi-touch screens. Blackberry has approximately 3% of the cellphone market share and is ranked number 6 in terms of popularity in the mobile phone market. The Blackberry phone also has numerous other features however, the main target audience are the business sector. It provides people in business with the ultimate package in order to efficiently perform their duties. The paper will further analyze the the mission statement of the company and its vision and goals. It will also give a more detailed description of the products and services that are provided by the company and the financial strategies it implements in order to gain an advantage in the smart-phone market. The goals of the company are centered around the efficient provision of innovative solutions for global communication using mobile phones. This also involves the creation of software that further improves other cellphone features such as emailing, media, internet browsing and other applications. The numerous research and development programs that are carried out by the company clearly show the its goals to constantly improve and provide the people with better services. Mission Statement The mission statement continues to be the company's guideline in business. It is similar to that of its founding company RIM, which is to develop integrated software, hardware and services that facilitate for numerous networks and provide solutions and platforms for limitless access to urgent matters using features such as text messaging, internet based applications, phone calls, emails and internet (Daidj, 2013, 20). This mission statement aims to guide the company with its vision to be the leading designer, marketer and manufacturer of innovative wireless solutions for global cellphone communication (Daidj, 2013, 20). Company Overview Research In Motion, one of the leaders in wireless technology and innovation changed the mobile industry when it introduced Blackberry in the year 1999. From the time of its release Blackberry has continued to benefit numerous individuals and change the way in which they communicate. The global headquarters of the company is located in Canada, Ontario, Waterloo, and the company has offices in Asia-Pacific, North America and Europe. The company was founded by Mike Larzaridis, an its current President and CEO is Thorsten Heins (Daidj, 2013, 20). It recently changed its name in February 2013, and now trades under BBRY on the NASDAQ Stock Market and BB on the Toronto Stock Market (Daidj, 2013, 20). Products and Services Blackberry offers a wide array of products and services that are specifically suited for each customer's needs and requirements. These products consists of smart-phones and tablets (Blackberry, 2013). The company has a wide range of smart-phones that have continued to change in order to suit people's needs in terms of technology and style. The software has also changed in the phones and tablets with the latest operating system being Blackberry 10. The latest cellphone also has 4G LTE network, 4.2” camera, dual core 1.5 processor along with other cellphone features. The latest Blackberry tablet is the Blackberry playbook which runs under Blackberry Playbook OS (Blackberry, 2013). Strategy Blackberry has always been one of the leading providers of mobile phones and enjoyed success and rising share prices over the years. However, the company has recently been experiencing some difficulties and its share value reached its lowest point in 2011 (Daidj, 2013, 20). The share decreased by almost 80% from January to December. The highest value ever reached by Blackberry shares is $140 however, in 2012 the shares were worth approximately $14 (Daidj, 2013, 20). The company experienced a record loss with the shareholders losing approximately $70 billion during this crisis. This period of dismal performance required the company to alter its strategy in order to compete with other telecommunication service providers (Daidj, 2013, 20). The company realized that it was unable to compete with other brands in terms of flashiness and fashionable design. Therefore, Research In Motion decided to return to the original strategies of the company which were to target the business sector. The company went on to change its management team which saw the exist of co founder Jim Balsillie as CEO and the introduction of Thorsten Heins. The company stated in several press conferences that it will create products based on its strengths and create devices that will attack employee and employer to buy in order to give them an advantage in business and improve the way in which they perform their daily duties. The company also stated that it will source new partnerships and mergers that will give it an advantage in the market and may lead to the introduction of products that are not characteristic of Blackberry. Such products will however be targeted at the cooperate environment and may include different types of business software that are not restricted to Blackberry mobile phones (Chibba, 2013, 61-70). Blackberry mobile phones are well known for their reliability as well as security when it comes to performing different functions and the current company strategy is to further improve these attributes (Chibba, 2013, 61-70). The new strategic changes that took place in the company also involved the improvement of touch screen phones that were slower than both Apple and Android phones at running third party applications. The company also aimed to to improve its performance on the tablet market as its launch of the Blackberry Playbook was an epic failure as it ended up selling for lower prices than its cost of production (Chibba, 2013, 61-70). In summation, the company has realized that it is a niche company and has altered its policies form competing with the likes of Apple and Android phones and focused it attention on its previous target market which is the business sector. Business Culture As mentioned above the company targets the business sector and aims to provide services that improves the way in which people do business. It caters for faster response to emails and assists in planning one's schedule. The working environment has received great feedback from employees and has been acknowledged with having some of the best software development tools in the market. Employees have also expressed satisfaction in their benefits and retirement packages. Financial Despite the loses that have been experienced by the company, the number of Blackberry users has continued to increase with approximately 78 million current users worldwide (Chibba, 2013, 61-70). The company has also operated profitably until recent years were it experienced substantial loses. The company CEO has stated that he plans to launch a wider selection of smart-phones in order to cater for the emerging markets which have displayed the highest number of sales according to recent surveys (Chibba, 2013, 61-70). The company's budget has also increased as it aims to produce other devices that are valuable for business transactions. The company is also dedicating more funds to research and development as its previous downfall came from being over reluctant and bathing in company's previous success. Conclusion Blackberry is an international brand that has acquired a great number of loyal customers. The company mainly focuses on the production of mobile phones which possess features that are targeted at the business sector. The company has recently experienced substantial loses, however, the number of Blackberry users has continued to increase. References Blackberry. (2013). Products and Services. Blackberry Enterprise Service 10. Retrieved from http://ca.blackberry.com/business/products-services.html Chibba, M. (2013). Expanding the perspective on global business. Global Business and Organizational Excellence, 32(2), 61-70. Daidj, N. (2013). Corporate Strategies, Business Ecosystems and Convergence. In International Conference on Technology and Business Management March (Vol. 18, p. 20). Read More