The SWOT Analysis of Blackberry will highlight the evolving strategy, which can help predict how the firm will position itself in the future.
Blackberry has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, despite being a pioneer in mobile-based technology with its best-selling original Smartphones and being one of the pioneers of mobile computing, Research in Motion (RIM), the firm that created and sold the Blackberry, missed the burgeoning Smartphone revolution. Following that, the corporation was unable to read the market, and as a result, market share was lost to Apple and Samsung. The firm nearly went bankrupt, and despite leadership changes, it was never able to reclaim its position.
According to the blackberry case study analysis, the firm has been in the spotlight again after rejecting a buyout offer and rescinding a selling option in favour of appointing a new CEO and accepting a fresh infusion of funds.
The main point here is that Blackberry needs to overhaul and reinvigorate itself immediately if it wants to recapture market share and, forget about market leadership, stay afloat.
SWOT Analysis of Blackberry
Strengths
- BlackBerry Limited has put a lot of effort into creating a strong brand portfolio over the years. This fact is reinforced by the SWOT analysis of BlackBerry. If Blackberry wants to try its experience in other product categories, this brand portfolio can take it to different heights.
- Its Go-To-Market techniques for its products have been extremely effective.
- Successful training and learning programmes have resulted in a highly competent workforce. BlackBerry Limited invests a significant amount of money in employee training and development. This led to not only highly driven team members but also competent staff.
- With its strong dealer community, it has made a culture among dealers and distributors in which dealers not only market the products of the company, but also spend on helping the salespeople in understanding the benefits of the items from Blackberry.
- BlackBerry Limited has created a strong distribution network over the years that allows it to reach the majority of its potential market.
- The firm has a strong network of reliable suppliers of raw materials, allowing it to take care of any bottlenecks in the supply chain.
- BlackBerry Limited is generally effective at executing new projects and generating strong returns on capital expenditure by establishing new income sources.
- BlackBerry Limited has developed competence in entering and succeeding in new markets. The growth has allowed the company to diversify its income streams and reduce economic cycle risk in the areas it serves.
Weaknesses
- Blackberry’s main flaw is that it has a single-track concentration on business customers and has emphasised security features as a USP (Unique Selling Proposition). While this characteristic kept it in good standing with business clients, Blackberry could not keep up with the competition as Apple and Samsung released smartphones for consumers for everyday use. Indeed, by improving the security mechanisms in their smartphones, Apple and Samsung have controlled the market.
- Small company owners that used Blackberry were forced to install pricey enterprise software, therefore they began to use competitors instead of Blackberry. Furthermore, the firm lost ground as Samsung and Apple’s proprietary operating systems offered additional benefits to this client category, thereby excluding Blackberry from the competition.
- With its obsessive concentration on business users, Blackberry was effectively a one-trick pony. With a big consumer base unaffected, Samsung and Apple swiftly snatched this market, and by delivering an easy-to-use user interface and simple-to-use apps, these businesses began to steal even Blackberry’s corporate clients.
Opportunities
- Tablet and smartphone markets started expanding. BlackBerry has a fantastic potential to enhance its position in this rapidly increasing industry and gain a greater proportion of the market.
- The mobile advertising sector is booming. The growing mobile advertising industry is an opportunity that BlackBerry may take advantage of with its smartphones and tablets.
- Cloud-based services are becoming increasingly popular. The cloud-based services industry has developed rapidly through 2020. BlackBerry has a chance to increase its cloud-based services and capitalise on rising demand.
- Patents can be obtained through purchases. A strong patent portfolio is a major competitive advantage in the technology business. Patents can be discovered through costly R&D or by purchases from other companies, which is now BlackBerry’s greatest opportunity.
Threats
- Even though Blackberry was the first smartphone, Samsung and Apple beat them to the punch in the race to create the smartphone of the future because they offered the flexibility and simplicity of use that Blackberry lacked, allowing them to corner market share and snare competitors.
- Apart from the threats provided by its rivals, Blackberry must contend with a sluggish and dismal internal scenario, which has resulted in a general lack of direction and poorer employee morale as a result of the company’s recent difficulties. Given that the Smartphone business relies on innovation, Blackberry must revitalise and reinvent itself in addition to reviving the company’s sinking momentum and employee engagement.
Conclusion
The previous debate has underlined the need for Blackberry and its management to take aggressive actions to get the firm out of its current morass. The new leadership’s recent blackberry strategy analysis from the initiatives should be viewed in the context of the company’s march away from its profit-making and market-leading approach to a position where it is no longer in the reckoning. To summarise, Blackberry and its leadership have their work cut out for them as they prepare to take on the Smartphone businesses such as Apple and Samsung