BlackBerry Ltd. is considering putting the company up for sale. Amid a world awash in iPhones and Androids, BlackBerry is struggling to stay afloat and will reportedly begin exploring “strategic alternatives.”
Forbes called the formation of a committee to examine strategic alternatives a “last-ditch effort to save the business,” which will include looking at partnerships and other options to help the company.
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BlackBerry has been losing the technology game to iPhones and Google’s Androids for the past five years, dropping share prices by 93 percent during that timeframe. The new BlackBerry 10 operating system that launched this year didn’t regain any market share for the company.
The announcement of the committee’s formation comes after Blackberry last year hired JPMorgan and RBC Capital Markets to
help it look at strategic options, Bloomberg News said.
“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, chair of the new committee, in a statement.
BlackBerry shares went up to $10.78 after the announcement. Bloomberg quoted analyst Charlie Wolf as saying that he thinks the “likelihood of a sale is at least 50 percent.”
Reuters reported last week that BlackBerry was considering going private, which caused the stock to rally about 5 percent. The company had considered such a move in the past, talking with a private equity firm in 2012.
The company got rid of 5,000 employees last year to cut operating costs by $1 billion, Bloomberg said, and that move had analysts projecting a profit for last quarter.
It didn’t happen. BlackBerry still lost dollars — $84 million to be exact — attributed to poor sales of the new BlackBerry Z10.
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