In what appears to be another double edged sword loss, the manufacturer “Jabil Circuit” recently announced that they are looking to drop the manufacturing of BlackBerry devices.
Jabil, you may or may not have heard of them, unless you’re into all who and what helps towards the production of our beloved BlackBerry devices, chances are you haven’t (Unless I’m being really ignorant now, feel free to put me in my place!). However, they recently announced their quarterly results (BlackBerry’s results is tomorrow morning!), they seemed to have let it by that by regarding the recent trouble BlackBerry is facing, they apparently now seem to be having trouble manufacturing the the devices and carrying on doing so will affect Jabil as much as it will BlackBerry
Now, from what I take from this, is that since BlackBerry announced their strategic alternatives motive, inventory hasn’t really sold that much since people now are convinced that BlackBerry is dead and there is little to no reason to buy a device hence the lack of sales hence the reason why (according to Jabil), manufacturing a BlackBerry device simply is too costly now that BlackBerry devices are having trouble with shifting them.
Here’s the thing, BlackBerry accounts for 12% of Jabil’s entire business, with Apple with 19%. Mark Mondello, CEO of Jabil says ““Timelines are fluid,” Mondello said. “But, directionally, we have a path, a path that we believe is prudent and in the best interest of our shareholders, a path that also supports the needs of BlackBerry.” This has me thinking whilst Jabil has a valid point, but maybe BlackBerry also is looking towards this path, given the fact they’re looking to go private which is going to happen by November and that BlackBerry also doesn’t need Jabil anymore – hence the double edged sword.
Here’s what BlackBerry had to say: “We value our business partner relationships around the world, and we remain committed to working collaboratively with them to deliver industry-leading quality products and services” This isn’t anything insightful and this is probably what we’re only going to get until some major changes happen with BlackBerry (or they also announce it tomorrow along with their quarterly results?)
What I meant with “another double edged sword loss” was that some app companies will only develop native apps for BlackBerry so long as it has a strong foothold in market share, but in order for BlackBerry to do that, they need the major apps from these companies (it’s not the only thing BlackBerry needs to work on)
All in all, this is obviously not good for either business but it’s probably for the best in the long run. Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Source: All Things D