Poll: How Do You See BlackBerry?

As recently as 2011, BlackBerry smartphones were still the de facto standard device for enterprise communication.

IT departments valued the management and security capabilities offered by the BES platform, while business people enjoyed the ability to send and receive emails, especially on the physical keyboard.

BlackBerry phones were even popular among younger users, partly due to the ability to communicate via BlackBerry Messenger (BBM).

BlackBerry strategy

But the BlackBerry of 2015 is vastly different. Apple and Android manufacturers eroded BlackBerry’s market share by offering more attractive devices and narrowing the gap in enterprise and security features.

The Canadian company’s response was slow and the arrival of BlackBerry 10 came too late to reverse the trend.

Under John Chen’s leadership, the ‘new’ BlackBerry is a much smaller company, focused on services and software – as demonstrated by its recent agreement to purchase Good Technology and the relaunch of BBM as a multi-platform application.

It still makes phones too though. The Passport and the Classic played up to BlackBerry’s design roots, while the Priv was its first ever Android-powered handset.

But how do you see BlackBerry. Is it a hardware company, a software company, is it both? Or is it a relic? We want to know.

Tell us in the poll below.

Think you’re a BlackBerry expert? Take our quiz!