Jabil Circuit to 'Wind Down Relationship' With BlackBerry
posted Saturday Sep 28, 2013 by Scott Ertz
BlackBerry's world is not exactly what they thought it would be. Sales are down, profits are down massively, layoffs are imminent and they just sold themselves to Fairfax Financial Holdings. In a letter of intent from BlackBerry, Fairfax Financial Holdings will purchase the struggling smartphone brand for $4.7 billion.
While no plans have been announced yet, Fairfax is known for holding companies. The company has an impressive portfolio of companies it is involved with. Obviously BlackBerry is hoping that it will be maintained and not sold off for parts, something Thorsten Heins has been actively avoiding.
With everything crumbling out from under them, one thing has been consistent: Jabil Circuit manufactures their handsets. That is until Jabil Circuit CEO Mark Mondello said,
We are in discussions right now, on how we are going to wind down the relationship.
So, will BlackBerry be able to continue operating? Will they find another handset manufacturer? Will this be the final nail in the coffin of BlackBerry? In the light of the changing atmosphere, Heins plans to refocus the company.
Going forward, we plan to refocus our offering on our end-to-end solution of hardware, software and services for enterprises and the productive, professional end user. This puts us squarely on target with the customers that helped build BlackBerry into the leading brand today for enterprise security, manageability and reliability.
Away from trying to be a consumer-focused company and back to their roots as an enterprise-focused company. This could explain some of why BlackBerry pulled back the release of its BlackBerry Messenger app for iPhone and Android. It also undoes a lot of the last year, including hiring Alicia Keys as its creative director and marketing hardcore to the casual smartphone user.
Will a return to the past fix BlackBerry's woes? Sound off in the comments.
