Turmoil at BlackBerry: a new CEO, BB10 delays, and buyout rumors – The Verge

BlackBerry suing Ryan Seacrest’s keyboard startup (updated)

2014-01-03T12:59:18-05:00

Typo keyboard

BlackBerry is suing the maker of a snap-on keyboard accessory for smartphones. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company this week filed a complaint against Typo Products, which is backed and co-founded by Ryan Seacrest, claiming the company infringes on its patents covering keyboards.

A keyboard for your touchscreen phone

The product in question is a keyboard that can be attached to Apple's iPhone, offering physical keys as well as a protective case that encloses the device. The $99 accessory became available for preorder last month, with an expected launch in the coming weeks.

"This is a blatant infringement against BlackBerry's iconic keyboard …

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BlackBerry founder Mike Lazaridis won’t pursue bid for company

2013-12-25T17:27:01-05:00

lazaridis

BlackBerry founder Mike Lazaridis has severely reduced his ownership stake in the company, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The information comes from a regulatory filing made public on Tuesday, in which Laziridis said he won't pursue a bid to buy the company, and as a result had cut his stake to roughly 4.99 percent of the ailing Canadian smartphone maker.

The news should quiet rumors that Lazaridis might make a play to regain control of the company, rumors which had included buyers ranging from Facebook to Amazon. Together with BlackBerry's recent cash infusion from Fairfax Financial Holdings, Lazaridis frank admission po …

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BlackBerry set to lose two more executives as leadership cull continues

2013-12-16T00:55:52-05:00

BlackBerry logo CES stock (1020)

A source close to the beleaguered BlackBerry has told The Wall Street Journal that two senior staff members will soon be leaving the smartphone manufacturer. Chris Wormald, head of BlackBerry's mergers and acquisitions, will reportedly be leaving by the end of December, while Rick Costanzo, executive vice president of global sales, will be out early next year.

The news comes less than a month after three other executives were ousted from the company. BlackBerry was on the verge of breaking up in October after a buyout was mooted. To save the ailing corporation, new CEO John Chen - appointed to the position after Thorsten Heins quit the comp …

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BlackBerry’s brush with fame: reaching Justin Bieber, discos, and the NFL

2013-12-05T16:33:59-05:00

BlackBerry Bold (STOCK)

With BlackBerry falling apart day by day, fans have never been more eager to reminisce on the pioneering smartphone maker's rise. While it's easy to forget the celebrity that the BlackBerry brand once held, Bloomberg Businessweek spoke with a number of old employees - most having worked there when it was still named RIM - who remember it well. "There wasn't a meeting I couldn't get," Vincent Washington, a BlackBerry business development manager with the company between 2001 and 2011, tells Businessweek. "All I had to say was, 'Hey, I'm bringing the BlackBerrys.'"

"Hey, can I get your PIN?"

The excitement quickly extended to customers. At lau …

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BlackBerry CEO John Chen says company is ‘very much alive’ and returning to its roots

2013-12-02T14:02:51-05:00

BlackBerry CEO John Chen has been on the job for only a month, but his message is clear: BlackBerry isn't going anywhere. To bolster that sentiment further, Chen today issued a new open letter to his company's enterprise customers. "Our 'for sale' sign has been taken down and we are here to stay," Chen writes, using a recent investment deal with Fairfax Financial as evidence that the company has fresh wind behind its sails. After failing to make a sizable impact in the consumer smartphone market, Chen also reiterates that enterprise will be a leading focus for BlackBerry in the months and years to come.

"We're going back to our heritage and …

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Three key BlackBerry executives ousted as new CEO tries to salvage the company

2013-11-25T09:32:17-05:00

BlackBerry 10 stock

It's already a cold day for BlackBerry as the company continues to reshuffle its ranks. The company announced this morning that BlackBerry COO Kristian Tear and CMO Frank Boulben are both set to leave the company, while financial chief Brian Bidulka will be replaced. The news comes three weeks after former CEO Thorsten Heins stepped down after a proposed $4.7 billion takeover deal with Fairfax Holdings fell through.

The embattled BlackBerry is now tasked with finding a new direction for its floundering handset business, with a new CEO at the helm and $1 billion in funding from its investors. Interim CEO John S. Chen seems intent on righting t …

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BlackBerry’s new CEO gets $85 million to stick around

2013-11-11T13:12:02-05:00

Blackberry 10 Experience event (STOCK)

BlackBerry wants its new executive chairman and interim CEO, John Chen, to turn the company around, and it's set him up with a pay package that should help to keep him on board. Chen is receiving 13 million shares of restricted stock - worth about $85 million today - vesting over the next five years. He'll also see $1 million each year in base salary, with a potential performance bonus of up to $2 million annually. If terminated without cause, he'll see a $6 million termination package.

Though there's no word on BlackBerry's search for a new permanent CEO, Chen would seemingly be a likely frontrunner given both his pay package and credential …

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BlackBerry reportedly refused to break up company despite interest from Apple, Microsoft

2013-11-08T15:24:46-05:00

Blackberry 10 Experience event (STOCK)

Back when BlackBerry was still on the market, some expected that the struggling company would ultimately be broken up and "sold for parts." But according to Reuters, BlackBerry's board roundly rejected this possibility, despite interest from several major competitors. Google, Microsoft, and even Apple - a name we hadn't heard before now - were reportedly drawn to BlackBerry's intellectual property. Cisco and Lenovo are mentioned as other potential buyers of BlackBerry's assets, though Reuters' report makes no mention of those Facebook rumors. In the end, BlackBerry's board apparently felt that a breakup would not "serve the interest of all s …

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Berry picking: a look back at BlackBerry’s long list of potential buyers

2013-11-04T19:47:02-05:00

BlackBerry logo CES stock (1020)

After months of rumors that BlackBerry was just one tech giant's whim away from being acquired, the struggling smartphone maker narrowly avoided that fate this morning by taking a last-minute cash injection and swapping out its CEO. That certainly doesn't mark the end of the line for BlackBerry acquisition talk, but it might put it on hold for now. Of course, getting here was no short road: just about everyone in the business has been rumored to eye BlackBerry's assets at one point or another. Let's take a look at some of the names that have turned up along the way.

BlackBerry co-founder Mike Lazaridis

Mike Lazaridis co-founded BlackBerry - …

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Who is John Chen, BlackBerry’s new CEO?

2013-11-04T13:50:11-05:00

john chen (disney)

BlackBerry is bringing in a fixer. The struggling smartphone maker has long been run by its own talent - a founder, an early investor, and a guy who worked his way up the ranks - but in about two weeks it will bring on its first outsider: John Chen. Chen is known for turning around failing companies, and he'll soon be tasked with doing that yet again as BlackBerry's interim CEO. His appointment comes alongside a failed takeover by Fairfax capital that couldn't manage to attract any outside capital. Instead, Fairfax and a small group of investors are now pouring $1 billion more into the struggling phone maker, and betting big on Chen for a tu …

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