Blackberry Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins believes tablets will soon become nearly obsolete, according to Bloomberg. Thorsten said the company may not debut a follow-up to its tablet the Blackberry Playbook.
“In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore,” said Heins in an interview yesterday at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles. “Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model.”
Blackberry is making major moves with its new smartphones that will run on the Blackberry 10 platform. However, Heins is currently deciding whether or not to sell tablets—especially since the Playbook got terrible review. He said the only way Blackberry will debut a tablet is if the company believes the device will generate good sales in what is otherwise an intensely competitive market.
“In five years, I see BlackBerry to be the absolute leader in mobile computing -- that’s what we’re aiming for,” Heins said. “I want to gain as much market share as I can, but not by being a copycat.”
In another interview, this time with Bloomberg Television, Heins showed confidence for Blackberry’s new Q10 handset. The device, unlike the recently debuted Z10, has a physical keyboard and launched in the United Kingdom this past weekend.
“We have very, very good first signs already after the launch in the U.K.,” Heins said. “This is going into the installed base of more than 70 million BlackBerry users, so we have quite some expectations. We expect several tens of millions of units.”
Blackberry expects a desire for a physical keyboard, as opposed to the wide range of touch screen phones, to drive sales for the Q10. The Z10 sold one million units in the first quarter but the company’s stocks took a hit after the reports showed a mediocre demand for the Z10.
Selfridges and outlets of Carphone Warehouse Group Plc, both located in the UK, quickly sold out of the Q10, according to Peter Misek, an analyst for Jefferies Group LLC in New York.
“Salespeople were well-versed on the device, and there was more apparent buzz versus the Z10 launch,” Misek said.
On April 12, Blackberry said it would request that securities regulators look into a report from Detwiler Fenton & Co saying its new phones were doing extremely well. Blackberry believes this false information may have been publicized in order to manipulate stock price.
Whatever the motivation is, you have to use the right facts, and that’s what we’re challenging right now,” Heins said, making reference to the company’s request for both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ontario Securities Commission to review the report.
According to data from Blackberry and Verizon Wireless, returns for the Z10 are “completely in lline with the industry and “better than previous BlackBerry launches were, so the quality speaks for itself,” Heins said.
Blackberry, like many other companies, are competing for even a fighting chance against Samsung and Apple. Heins said he is considering licensing the Blackberry 10 platform to other companies.
If the new phones are successful, they “will create a certain attraction toward BlackBerry 10, and then whatever comes up, we will entertain any valuable discussion for the company,” Heins said. “We are still observing and watching that space, and that’s what we will continue to do.”
