Bajaj Finserv Limited

Government access to encrypted communication

After a four-year stand-off with the Indian government over access to RIM's secure networks, the company demonstrated the ability to intercept consumer email and messaging traffic between BlackBerry handsets, and make these encrypted communications available to Indian security agencies. This agreement does not include its enterprise services.[222]

Through the Canadian Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, Blackberry has given its master encryption keys to law enforcement, allowing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to view communications and other encrypted information.[223] Then-CEO John Chen defended the company's sharing of data, saying "(we) have long been clear in our stance that tech companies as good corporate citizens should comply with reasonable lawful access requests."[224]

Electronics industry in Canada

43°31′02″N 80°30′57″W / 43.5171578°N 80.5158791°W / 43.5171578; -80.5158791

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The Astonishing Tribe

The Astonishing Tribe (TAT), a user interface design company based in Malmö, Sweden, was acquired by the company on December 2, 2010.[161][162] With a history of creating user interfaces and applications for mobile, TAT contributed heavily to the user experience of BlackBerry 10 as well as the development of its GUI framework, Cascades.

In July 2011, RIM brought on JayCut, a Sweden-based company that is an online video editor.[163] JayCut technology was incorporated into the media software of BlackBerry 10.[163]

In March 2012, RIM acquired Paratek Microwave,[164] bringing their adaptive RF Tuning technology into BlackBerry handsets.

On September 18, 2012, it was announced that the RIM social calendaring service,[165] Tungle.me would be shut down on December 3, 2012. RIM acquired Tungle.me in April 2011.[166]

In July 2011, RIM acquired NewBay, an Irish-based company that is an online video, pics and tool for media networks editor.[167] RIM subsequently sold NewBay to Synchronoss in December 2012 for $55.5 million.[168]

On June 7, 2011, Scoreloop was acquired by BlackBerry for US$71 million.[169][170] It provided tools for adding social elements to any game (achievements/rewards etc.) and was central to the BlackBerry 10's Games app. On December 1, 2014, all Scoreloop services were shut down.[171]

Gist was acquired in February 2011, by BlackBerry. Gist was a tool that helps users to organise and view all their contacts in one place. Gist's services closed down on September 15, 2012, in order for the company to focus on BlackBerry 10.[172]

BlackBerry Ltd. acquired Scroon in May 2013. The French startup manages Facebook, Twitter and other social-media accounts for large clients like luxury-good maker LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, wireless operator Orange SA (ORA) and Warner Bros. Entertainment. The deal was publicly announced in November 2013. According to Scroon founder, Alexandre Mars, he had not disclosed the purchase by BlackBerry before because of the "delicate media buzz" around the company. Scroon is part of BlackBerry's strategy to profit from the BlackBerry Messenger instant-messaging service by utilizing the newly unveiled BBM Channels. Financial terms were not disclosed.[173]

Movirtu was acquired in September 2014, by BlackBerry. Movirtu is a U.K. startup that allows multiple phone numbers to be active on a single mobile device. At the time of the acquisition BlackBerry announced they would expand this functionality beyond BlackBerry 10 to other mobile platforms such as Android and iOS.[174]

Secusmart was acquired in September 2014. The German-based company was one of the steps to position BlackBerry as the most secure provider in the mobile market. Secusmart had the agreement to equip the German Government with high secure mobile devices that encrypt voice as well as data on BlackBerry 10 devices. Those phones are currently in use by Angela Merkel and most of the ministers as well as several Departments and the Parliament.[175][non-primary source needed]

WatchDox was an Israel-based Enterprise File Synchronization and Sharing company which specialized in securing access to documents on a cloud basis. BlackBerry acquired the company in April 2015.[176] On December 8, 2016, BlackBerry renamed WatchDox to BlackBerry Workspaces.[177]

In August 2019, BlackBerry closed down its Israel development center.[178]

On July 22, 2015, BlackBerry announced that it had acquired AtHoc, a provider of secure, networked emergency communications.[179]

On September 4, 2015, BlackBerry announced the acquisition of mobile security provider Good Technology for $425 million.[180] On December 8, 2016, it rebranded Good's products and integrated them into the BlackBerry Enterprise Mobility Suite, a set of tiered software offerings for its enterprise customers.[181]

On February 24, 2016, BlackBerry acquired UK-based cyber security consultancy Encription.[182]

On November 16, 2018, Cylance was purchased for US$1.4 billion by BlackBerry Limited in an all cash deal.[183] The technology behind Cylance would enable BlackBerry to add artificial intelligence capabilities to its existing software products for IoT applications and other services. Cylance will run as a separate division within BlackBerry Limited's current operations.[184]

BlackBerry Tablet OS (QNX)

The BlackBerry PlayBook was the first RIM product whose BlackBerry Tablet OS was built on QNX, launched in April 2011 as an alternative to the Apple iPad. However, it was criticized for having incomplete software and a poor app selection. It fared poorly until prices were substantially reduced, like most other tablet computers released that year. The BlackBerry Tablet OS received a major update in February 2012, as well as numerous minor updates.

BlackBerry 10, a substantially updated version of BlackBerry Tablet OS intended for the next generation BlackBerry smartphones, was originally planned for release in early 2012. The company delayed the product several times, remembering the criticism faced by the BlackBerry Playbook launch and citing the need for it to be perfect in order to stand a chance in the market. The most recent model with this OS was the BlackBerry Leap.

In September 2015, BlackBerry announced the Priv, a handset running Android 5.1.1 "Lollipop". It is the first phone by the company not to run an in-house built operating system. The version of Android running on the Priv is very similar to the standard version developed by Google, with some changes to improve productivity and security. BlackBerry implemented some of the features of BlackBerry 10 within Android, such as BlackBerry Hub, BlackBerry Virtual Keyboard, BlackBerry Calendar, and BlackBerry Contacts.[142]

On July 26, 2016, a mid-range model with only an on-screen keyboard was introduced, the slim BlackBerry DTEK50, powered by the then-latest version of Android (6.0, Marshmallow) and featuring a 5.2-inch full high-definition display. BlackBerry chief security officer David Kleidermacher stressed data security during the launch, indicating that this model included built-in malware protection and encryption of all user information. By then, the BlackBerry Classic, which used the BlackBerry 10 OS, had been discontinued.[143][144]

In July 2016, industry observers expected the company to announce two additional smartphones over the subsequent 12 months, presumably also with the Android OS.[145] However, BlackBerry COO Marty Beard told Bloomberg that "The company's never said that we would not build another BB10 device."[146]

In 2018, the last Blackberry smartphone, the BlackBerry Key2 LE, was released. In 2022, BlackBerry discontinued support for BlackBerry 10, effectively ending their presence in the smartphone market.[147]

Through the years, particularly as the company moved towards cybersecurity, BlackBerry has made numerous acquisitions of third-party companies and technology.

Slipstream Data Inc was a network optimization/data compression/network acceleration software company. BlackBerry acquired the company as a wholly owned subsidiary on July 11, 2006. The company continues to operate out of Waterloo.

Certicom Corp. is a cryptography company founded in 1985 by Gordon Agnew,[148] Ron Mullin and Scott Vanstone.

The Certicom intellectual property portfolio includes over 350 patents and patents pending worldwide that cover key aspects of elliptic-curve cryptography (ECC).[149]

The National Security Agency (NSA) has licensed 26 of Certicom's ECC patents as a way of clearing the way for the implementation of elliptic curves to protect U.S. and allied government information.[150]

On January 23, 2009, VeriSign entered into an agreement to acquire Certicom.[151] Research In Motion put in a counter-offer, which was deemed superior.[152] VeriSign did not match this offer,[153] and so Certicom announced an agreement to be acquired by RIM.[154] Upon the completion of this transaction, Certicom became a wholly owned subsidiary of RIM, and was de-listed from the Toronto Stock Exchange on March 25, 2009.

In June 2009, RIM announced they would acquire Dash Navigation, makers of the Dash Express.[155]

In August 2009, RIM acquired Torch Mobile, developer of Iris Browser, enabling the inclusion of a WebKit-based browser on their BlackBerry devices, which became the web browser in subsequent Java-based operating systems (BlackBerry 6, BlackBerry 7) and operating systems (QNX based BlackBerry Tablet OS and BlackBerry 10). The first product to contain this browser, the BlackBerry Torch 9800, was named after the company.

On September 8, 2010, DataViz, Inc. sold their office suite Documents To Go and other assets to Research In Motion for $50 million.[156] Subsequently, the application which allows users to view and edit Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint was bundled on BlackBerry Smartphones and tablets.

On March 26, 2010, the company announced its acquisition of Viigo, a Toronto-based company that developed the popular Viigo for BlackBerry applications, which aggregated news content from around the web. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.[157]

RIM reached an agreement with Harman International on April 12, 2010, for RIM to acquire QNX Software Systems. The acquired company was to serve as the foundation for the next generation BlackBerry platform that crossed devices.[158][159][160] QNX became the platform for the BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry 10 Smartphones.

John Chen resigns from BlackBerry

On October 30, 2023 John S. Chen announced his resignation as CEO through an employee letter posted to the Blackberry Limited blog page stating he will cease his role on November 4, 2023.[99]

Until 2013, the number of active BlackBerry users increased over time. In the fourth quarter of fiscal year ended March 3, 2012, RIM shipped 11.1 million BlackBerry smartphones, down 21 percent from the previous quarter and it was the first decline in the quarter covering Christmas since 2006. For its fourth quarter, RIM announced a net loss of US$125 million (the last loss before this occurred in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2005).[100] RIM's loss of market share accelerated in 2011, due to the rapidly growing sales of Samsung and HTC Android handsets; RIM's annual market share in the U.S. dropped to just 3 percent, from 9 percent.[101]

In the quarter ended June 28, 2012, RIM announced that the number of BlackBerry subscribers had reached 78 million globally.[102] Furthermore, RIM reported its first quarter revenue for the 2013 fiscal year, showing that the company incurred a GAAP net loss of US$518 million for the quarter, and announced a plan to implement a US$1 billion cost-saving initiative. The company also announced the delay of the new BlackBerry 10 OS until the first quarter of 2013.[103]

After the release of the Apple iPhone 5 in September 2012, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins announced that the number of global users was up to 80 million, which sparked a 7% jump in shares.[104] On December 2, 2012, the company reported a decline in the global subscriber base of BlackBerry to 79 million, after peaking at an all-time high of 80 million the previous quarter.[34] Later that same month, media reports confirmed that BlackBerry lost US$1.049 billion during the second fiscal quarter of 2013. In the wake of the loss, Heins stated: "We are very disappointed with our operational and financial results this quarter and have announced a series of major changes to address the competitive hardware environment and our cost structure."[105]

Between 2010 and 2013, the stock price of the company dropped by 87 percent due to the widespread popularity of the iPhone. Goldman Sachs estimated that, in June 2014, BlackBerry accounted for 1 percent share of smartphone sales, compared to a peak of around 20 percent in 2009.[31]

With the release of its financial results for the first fiscal quarter of 2015 in June 2014, Chen presented a more stable company that had incurred a lower amount of loss than previous quarters. The New York Times described "a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss." Following the news release, Chen stated that BlackBerry was comfortable with its position, and it is understood that his plan for the company mainly involves businesses and governments, rather than consumers.[106]

India gives the world its first CNG motorcycle

The Bajaj Freedom is set to change the game of motorcycling in India. Riders will be able to cut down their operational cost by 50% leading to savings that’ll help them fulfil their dreams and aspirations. Add to that the comfort of the longest-in-class seat and mono-link suspension, and the convenience of an LED Headlamp and Bluetooth Connectivity, this bike is truly a game changer.

BlackBerry Limited, sebelumnya dikenal dengan nama Research In Motion Limited,[1][4] adalah sebuah perusahaan perangkat telekomunikasi dan nirkabel asal Kanada yang dikenal sebagai pengembang produk telepon pintar dan tablet BlackBerry. Perusahaan ini berkantor pusat di Waterloo, Ontario, Kanada. Perusahaan ini didirikan oleh Mike Lazaridis, yang menjabat sebagai co-CEO bersama Jim Balsillie sampai 22 Januari 2012.

Research in Motion didirikan pada tahun 1984 oleh Mike Lazaridis. Nama ini terinspirasi dari kata-kata "poetry in motion" yang ia temukan dalam artikel sepak bola di sebuah surat kabar.[5]

Perusahaan ini bekerja sama dengan RAM Mobile Data dan Ericsson untuk mengubah jaringan data nirkabel Mobitex milik Ericsson menjadi jaringan pager dua arah dan surel nirkabel. Hal utama yang berperan penting dalam pengembangan ini adalah peluncuran Inter@ctive Pager 950 pada Agustus 1998. Tentang ukurannya yang mirip batang sabun, perangkat ini bersaing ketat dengan jaringan pager dua arah SkyTel milik Motorola.

Perkembangan awal RIM dibantu oleh sejumlah investor Kanada pada tahun 1995 melalui pembentukan perusahaan swasta. Working Ventures Canadian Fund Inc. melakukan investasi pertama[6] senilai C$5.000.000 untuk menyelesaikan pengembangan perangkat keras dan lunak pager dua arah RIM. Kucuran dana pra-IPO sebesar C$30.000.000 berhasil dikumpulkan oleh perusahaan ini sebelum melakukan penawaran umum perdana di Bursa Saham Toronto pada Janauri 1998 dengan simbol RIM.[7]

Pada tahun 1999, RIM memperkenalkan pager BlackBerry 850. Dengan nama yang merujuk pada kemiripan papan ketiknya dengan buah beri hitam, alat ini mampu menerima surel masuk dari server Microsoft Exchange dengan perangkat lunak servernya, BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). Peluncuran BlackBerry menjadi awal dari jajaran produk korporat masa depan perusahaan ini, seperti BlackBerry 957 pada April 2000, telepon pintar BlackBerry pertama. Platform BlackBerry OS dan BES terus ditingkatkan fungsionalitasnya, sementara enkripsi dan S/MIME membantu popularitas BlackBerry di kalangan pemerintahan dan korporasi.[8][9]

Tak lama kemudian, RIM memperkenalkan perangkat BlackBerry untuk konsumen dengan meluncurkan BlackBerry Pearl 8100, telepon BlackBerry pertama yang dilengkapi fitur multimedia seperti kamera. Peluncuran jajaran produk Pearl sangat sukses, tetapi peluncuran iPhone oleh Apple Inc. mendorong RIM membuat telepon pintar layar sentuhnya sendiri pada tahun 2008, BlackBerry Storm. BlackBerry Storm gagal di pasar konsumen, namun produk BalckBerry terus menuai sukses di pasar korporat.[8] Pada Mei 2010, BlackBerry memiliki pangsa sistem operasi telepon pintar sebesar 10,4%.[10]

Bulan Oktober 2008, RIM masuk dalam daftar "Canada's Top 100 Employers" oleh Mediacorp Canada Inc. dan majalah berita Maclean's.[11]

RIM memperkenalkan diri ke seluruh dunia dengan membuka fasilitas baru di North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia pada Februari 2009. Kantor baru RIM secara resmi dibuka oleh Thomas A.MacDonald, Konsul Jenderal Kanada, dalam acara peresmian yang dihadiri pejabat pemerintah New South Wales dan North Sydney Council, serta mitra dan pelanggan RIM. Kantor baru ini memiliki fasilitas pelatihan, pusat riset dan pengembangan, pusat pemasaran mitra strategis dan layanan bantuan teknis.[12]

Tanggal 18 Agustus 2009, Fortune menyebut RIM sebagai perusahaan yang pertumbuhannya tercepat di dunia dengan kenaikan laba sebesar 84% dalam kurun tiga tahun meski terjadi resesi.[13]

Tanggal 27 September 2010, RIM meluncurkan komputer tablet BlackBerry PlayBook. BlackBerry PlayBook secara resmi diluncurkan ke pasar Amerika Serikat dan Kanada pada 19 April 2011.

Pada 30 Juni 2011, dorongan investor agar perusahaan ini menghapus struktur CEO gandanya dibatalkan setelah berhasil mencapai kesepakatan dengan RIM. RIM mengumumkan bahwa setelah menjalani diskusi, Northwest & Ethical Investments akan menarik proposal pemegang sahamnya sebelum rapat tahunan RIM.[14]

Pada tanggal 10 Oktober 2011, RIM mengalami salah satu gangguan layanan terburuk sepanjang sejarahnya. Sepuluh juta pengguna BlackBerry di Eropa, Timur Tengah, Afrika, dan Amerika Utara tidak dapat menerima atau mengirim surel dan pesan BBM melalui telepon genggam mereka.[15] Gangguan ini diakibatkan oleh matinya saklar inti.[16] Layanan ini kembali pulih pada 13 Oktober dan RIM meluncurkan paket aplikasi premium gratis senilai $100.[17][18]

Tanggal 22 Januari 2012, RIM menyatakan bahwa CEO-nya, Jim Balsillie dan Mike Lazaridis, telah mengundurkan diri. Mereka digantikan oleh Thorsten Heins.[19]

Pada 29 Maret 2012, RIM melakukan tinjauan strategis[20] terhadap strategi bisnis masa depannya.[21] Sebagai bagian dari perombakan manajemen, mantan CEO Jim Balsillie mengundurkan diri dari dewan RIM seiring keluarnya David Yach, CTO untuk divisi perangkat lunak, dan Jim Rowan, COO untuk operasi global.

Setelah empat tahun berselisih dengan pemerintah India, RIM setuju memberikan kunci enkripsi untuk layanan surel perusahaan dan sistem kirim pesannya yang populer. Perusahaan ini menciptakan solusi yang mampu menyadap pesan dan surel antara perangkat-perangkat BlackBerry dan memberikan akses komunikasi terenkripsi ini ke badan keamanan India.[22]

Bulan Juni 2011, RIM memprediksi labanya pada Q1 2011 akan jatuh untuk pertama kalinya dalam sembilan tahun dan mengungkapkan rencana pemutusan hubungan kerjanya. Nilai saham RIM jatuh ke titik terendahnya sejak 2006.[24] Sejak Juni 2008 hingga Juni 2011, pemegang saham RIM kerugian $70 miliar, atau 82 persen, setelah kapitalisasi pasarnya turun dari $83 miliar ke $13,6 miliar, terbesar di kalangan perusahaan perangkat telekomunikasi.[25]

Pada Juli 2011, perusahaan ini memberhentikan 2.000 karyawannya dalam musim PHK terbesar sepanjang sejarahnya. PHK ini mengurangi jumlah karyawan perusahaan sebesar 11% dari 19.000 orang menjadi 17.000.[26]

RIM kehilangan pangsa pasarnya di seluruh dunia karena popularitas produk iPhone dari Apple Inc. dan telepon cerdas bersistem operasi Android, sehingga laba dan nilai sahamnya turun. Pada tanggal 16 Desember 2011, nilai saham RIM jatuh ke harga terendah sejak Januari 2004 dan jatuh 77 persen pada tahun 2011.[27] Pada Maret 2012, sahamnya bernilai kurang dari $14, jauh berbeda dibandingkan $140 pada tahun 2008. BlackBerry PlayBook yang diluncurkan tahun 2011 sebagai alternatif iPad Apple untuk perusahaan hanya mendulang sedikit kesuksesan di pasar komersial. Sementara itu, CEO Thorsten Heins merombak fokus bisnis RIM dan menjelaskan bahwa fitur-fitur konsumen seperti aplikasi hiburan tidak penting bagi para pengguna utama produk ini.[28]

Pada kuartal keempat yang berakhir tanggal 3 Maret 2012, RIM berhasil menjual 11,1 juta perangkat BlackBerry, 21 persen lebih sedikit dibandingkan kuartal sebelumnya dan merupakan penurunan pertama dalam kuartal Natal sejak 2006. Pada kuartal keempatnya, RIM menyatakan rugi bersih $125 juta (kerugian sebelumnya terjadi pada kuartal keempat 2005).[29] RIM adalah salah satu perusahaan dengan kerugian pangsa pasar dunia terbesar pada tahun 2011 akibat meledaknya popularitas Samsung dan HTC dengan Android OS, sementara pangsa RIM di pasar Amerika Serikat turun 3 persen dari 9 persen pada tahun sebelumnya.[30]

RIM berencana menyederhanakan operasinya dan menghemat $1 miliar pada tahun fiskal dengan memecat 2.000 karyawannya di seluruh dunia pada 1 Juni 2012. Mereka juga mempertimbangkan memecat 6.000 orang lainnya pada periode selanjutnya. Saat itu, RIM memiliki 16.000 karyawan di seluruh dunia.[3]

Setelah Morgan Stanley menurunkan nilai RIM tanggal 25 Juni 2012, saham RIM kembali mencapai titik terendah pada $9,01, meski ditutup pada level $9,11 dan ini berarti 94 persen nilai puncaknya pada tahun 2008 hilang.[31]

Tanggal 28 Juni 2012, RIM melaporkan rugi bersih sebesar $581 juta pada Q1, penundaan peluncuran OS BlackBerry 10 hingga Q1 2013, dan pemutusan hubungan kerja 5.000 karyawannya.[32] Akibatnya, saham RIM jatuh 19% hingga $7,39, terendah dalam 9 tahun terakhir.[33]

Harga sahamnya kembali jatuh pada 16 Juli senilai $7,09 di Bursa Saham Toronto, terendah sejak 8 September 2003, setelah pengadilan California memutuskan RIM harus membayar $147,2 akibat pelanggaran paten untuk sistem pengelolaan perangkat BlackBerry karyawan dari jarak jauh yang dimiliki Mformation dari Delaware.[34]

Pada Agustus 2012, RIM berencana mengembalikan fokus telepon genggam BlackBerry mereka ke masa-masa yang membuat mereka sukses, yaitu mengkhususkan BlackBerry kepada para profesional bisnis. Thorsten Heins juga akan meluncurkan OS baru, BB10, yang ia rasa mampu mengembalikan masa kejayaan RIM. Sayangnya, usaha ini tetap gagal memuaskan para pemegang saham, karena setelah berbicara tentang rencana masa depan BlackBerry, harga sahamnya kembali anjlok 5 persen.[35]

Setelah dihujani kritik dan mengalami berbagai penundaan, RIM secara resmi meluncurkan sistem operasi BlackBerry 10 dan dua telepon pintar baru dengan platform ini, BlackBerry Z10 dan Q10, pada tanggal 30 Januari 2013.[9][36][37]

Pada acara peluncuran itu pula, perusahaan ini menyatakan akan mengubah merek publiknya dari Research In Motion ke BlackBerry Limited.[4][36] Perubahan nama ini bertujuan "meletakkan merek BlackBerry di tengah-tengah" berbagai merek produk perusahaan ini dan karena pengguna di beberapa negara "mengenal perusahaan ini dengan nama BlackBerry".[9] Meski para pemegang saham setuju pergantian nama resmi menjadi BlackBerry Limited akan dilakukan pada rapat umum tahunan berikutnya, simbol sahamnya di TSX dan NASDAQ sudah berubah menjadi BB dan BBRY pada tanggal 4 Februari 2013.[5][38]

Perusahaan ini juga akan mengiklankan BlackBerry 10 di berbagai stasiun televisi Amerika Serikat dan Kanada saat Super Bowl XLVII.[39]

Bách khoa toàn thư mở Wikipedia

BlackBerry Limited là một tập đoàn điện tử của Canada chuyên sản xuất, buôn bán các thiết bị di động và giải pháp di động như mẫu điện thoại ăn khách BlackBerry. Công ty này được thành lập năm 1984 tại Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

Trước khi sản xuất BlackBerry, RIM hợp tác với RAM Mobile Data và Ericsson để chuyển mạng dữ liệu không dây thành mạng máy tính nhắn tin 2 chiều và e-mail không dây Mobitex do Ericsson phát triển trước đó. Thành tựu của việc phát triển này là sự ra đời của máy nhắn tin Inter@ctive 950, được đưa ra thị trường vào tháng Tám, 1998. Với kích thước khoảng một thỏi xà bông, thiết bị này cạnh tranh với mạng nhắn tin 2 chiều SkyTel của Motorola.

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Canadian technology company

BlackBerry Limited (formerly Research In Motion or RIM for short) is a Canadian software company specializing in cybersecurity. Founded in 1984, it developed the BlackBerry brand of interactive pagers, smartphones, and tablets. The company transitioned to providing software and services and holds critical software application patents.

Initially leading the mobile phone and pager industry in the 1980s and 90s, the company struggled to gain a lasting presence in the smartphone market of the new millennium. BlackBerry led the market in many countries, particularly the United States, until 2010, with the announcement of the iPhone 4. The company withered against the rapid rise of Apple and Android. After the troubled launch of the BlackBerry 10, it transitioned to a cybersecurity enterprise software and services company under CEO John S. Chen.[3] In 2018, the last BlackBerry smartphone, the BlackBerry Key2 LE, was released. In 2022, BlackBerry discontinued support for BlackBerry 10, ending their presence in the smartphone market.

BlackBerry's software products are used by various businesses, car manufacturers, and government agencies to prevent hacking and ransomware attacks. They include BlackBerry Cylance, the QNX real-time operating system; BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BlackBerry Unified Endpoint Manager), and a Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) platform.

BlackBerry 2FA (Formerly Strong Authentication)

A two-factor, certificate-based VPN authentication solution that allows users to authenticate without requiring PINs or passwords. [citation needed]

An IP-based enterprise instant messaging platform that provides end-to-end encryption for voice, video, and text-based communication. On February 7, 2017, Blackberry released the BBM Enterprise SDK, a "Communications Platform as a Service" kit that allows developers to incorporate BBM Enterprise's messaging capabilities into their own applications. Said capabilities include secure messaging, voice, video, file sharing, and presence information.[187]

An emergency communication system, AtHoc provides two-way messaging and notifications across a range of devices and platforms. On May 17, 2017, BlackBerry released AtHoc Account to help businesses more easily keep track of their staff in an emergency.[188]

An anti-eavesdropping solution that provides voice, data, and SMS encryption. [citation needed]

A real-time embedded operating system, QNX drives multiple software systems in modern auto vehicles, and forms the basis of solutions like BlackBerry Radar, an IoT-based asset tracking system for the transportation industry.[189]

BlackBerry IVY is an edge-to-cloud vehicle data platform.[190]

Since the turn of the century, RIM has been embroiled in a series of suits relating to alleged patent infringement.[191]

In 2001, Research In Motion sued competitor Glenayre Electronics Inc. for patent infringement, partly in response to an earlier infringement suit filed by Glenayre against RIM.[7] RIM sought an injunction to prevent Glenayre from infringing on RIM's "Single Mailbox Integration" patent.[192] The suit was ultimately settled in favour of RIM. [citation needed]

In June 2002, Research In Motion filed suit against 2000 start-up and competitor Good Technology.[193] RIM filed additional complaints throughout the year.[194] In March 2004, Good agreed to a licensing deal, thereby settling the outstanding litigation.[195]

On September 16, 2002, Research In Motion was awarded a patent pertaining to keyboard design on hand-held e-mail devices. Upon receiving the patent, it proceeded to sue Handspring over its Treo device.[194][196] Handspring eventually agreed to license RIM's patent and avoid further litigation in November of the same year.[197]

During the appeals, RIM discovered new prior art that raised a "substantial new question of patentability" and filed for a reexamination of the NTP patents in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. That reexamination was conducted separately to the court cases for infringement. In February 2006, the USPTO rejected all of NTP's claims in three disputed patents. NTP appealed the decision, and the reexamination process was still ongoing as of July 2006 (See NTP, Inc. for details).

On March 3, 2006, RIM announced that it had settled its BlackBerry patent dispute with NTP.[198] Under the terms of the settlement, RIM agreed to pay NTP US$612.5 million[198] in a "full and final settlement of all claims". In a statement, RIM said that "all terms of the agreement have been finalized and the litigation against RIM has been dismissed by a court order this afternoon. The agreement eliminates the need for any further court proceedings or decisions relating to damages or injunctive relief."[199]

On July 17, 2003, while still embroiled in litigation with NTP and Good Technology, RIM filed suit against Xerox in the U.S. District of Hartford, Connecticut. The suit was filed in response to discussions about patents held by Xerox that might affect RIM's business and also asked that patents held by Xerox be invalidated.[200]

On May 1, 2006, RIM was sued by Visto for infringement of four patents.[201] Though the patents were widely considered invalid and in the same veins as the NTP patents – with a judgement going against Visto in the U.K.[202][203] – RIM settled the lawsuit in the United States on July 16, 2009, with RIM agreeing to pay Visto US$267.5 million plus other undisclosed terms.[204]

On January 22, 2010, Motorola requested that all BlackBerry smartphones be banned from being imported into the United States for infringing upon five of Motorola's patents. Their patents for "early-stage innovations", including UI, power management and WiFi, are in question.[205] RIM countersued later the same day, alleging anti-competitive behaviour and that Motorola had broken a 2003 licensing agreement by refusing to extend licensing terms beyond 2008.[206] The companies settled out of court on June 11, 2010.[207]

On December 5, 2011, Research In Motion obtained an order granting its motion to dismiss plaintiff Eatoni's claims that RIM violated Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act and equivalent portions of New York's Donnelly Act. Eatoni alleged that RIM's alleged infringement of plaintiff's '317 patent constituted an antitrust violation. Eatoni Ergonomics, Inc. v. Research In Motion Corp., No. 08-Civ. 10079 (WHP) (S.D.N.Y. Dec 5, 2011), Memorandum and Order, p. 1 (Pauley, J.).[208]

In July 2012, a U.S. federal court jury awarded damages (later overturned) of $147 million against Research In Motion. The jury decided that Research In Motion had violated patents of Mformation and calculated damages of $8 each on 18.4 million units for royalties on past sales of devices to nongovernment U.S. customers only, not including future royalty payments inside and outside the U.S.[209] On August 9, 2012, that verdict was overturned on appeal. RIM had argued that Mformation's patent claims were invalid because the processes were already being used when Mformation filed its patent application. Judge James Ware said Mformation failed to establish that RIM had infringed on the company's patent.[210]

On May 26, 2017, BlackBerry announced that it had reached an agreement with Qualcomm Incorporated resolving all amounts payable in connection with the interim arbitration decision announced on April 12, 2017. Following a joint stipulation by the parties, the arbitration panel has issued a final award providing for the payment by Qualcomm to BlackBerry of a total amount of U.S.$940,000,000 including interest and attorneys' fees, net of certain royalties due from BlackBerry for calendar 2016 and the first quarter of calendar 2017.[211]

On March 8, 2018, BlackBerry Limited sued Facebook Inc. in federal court in Los Angeles. According to BlackBerry Limited, Facebook has built swaths of its empire on the messaging technology which was originally developed by them during the time when the Facebook chief, Mark Zuckerberg, was still living in a Harvard University dorm room.[212] Blackberry Limited alleged that many features of the Facebook messaging service infringe on BlackBerry patents.[213] In January 2021, BlackBerry shares jumped 20% after settling its patent dispute with Facebook.[214]

In November 2011, Blackberry, then RIM, was ranked 15th out of 15 electronics manufacturers in Greenpeace's re-launched Guide to Greener Electronics.[215] In its 2012 report on progress relating to conflict minerals, the Enough Project rated RIM the sixth highest of 24 consumer electronics companies.[216] In 2014, RIM partnered with Solutions for Hope to expand the number of conflict-free mineral regions in the Congo.[217]

On October 10, 2011, RIM experienced one of the worst service outages in the company's history. Tens of millions of BlackBerry users in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and North America were unable to receive or send emails and BBM messages through their phones.[218] The outage was caused as a result of a core switch failure, "A transition to a back-up switch did not function as tested, causing a large backlog of data, RIM said."[219] Service was restored on October 13, with RIM announcing a $100 package of free premium apps for users and enterprise support extensions.[220][221]

–2001: early years and growth

Research In Motion Limited was founded in March 1984 by Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin.[4] At the time, Lazaridis was an engineering student at the University of Waterloo while Fregin was an engineering student at the University of Windsor.[5] In 1988, RIM became the first wireless data technology developer in North America and the first company outside the Nordic countries to develop connectivity products for Mobitex wireless packet-switched data communications networks. Mobitex's wireless data transport also became RIM's first wireless data service that powered the Blackberry and Palm devices until it was phased out.[6] In 1990, RIM introduced the DigiSync Film KeyKode Reader.[7] In 1991, it introduced the first Mobitex protocol converter. In 1992, it introduced the first Mobitex point-of-sale solution, a protocol converter box that interfaced with existing point-of-sale terminal equipment to enable wireless communication. In 1993, it introduced the RIMGate, the first general-purpose Mobitex X.25 gateway.[citation needed] In the same year, it launched Ericsson Mobidem AT and Intel wireless modems containing RIM modem firmware. In 1994, it introduced the first Mobitex mobile point-of-sale terminal. In the same year, it received the Emmy Award for Technical Innovation and the KPMG High Technology Award. In 1995, it introduced Freedom, the first Type II PCMCIA radio modem for Mobitex. [citation needed]

In 1995, RIM was financed by Canadian institutional and venture capital investors through a private placement in the privately held company. Working Ventures Canadian Fund Inc. led the first venture round[8] with a C$5,000,000 investment with the proceeds being used to complete the development of RIM's two-way paging system hardware and software. A total of C$30,000,000 in pre-IPO financing was raised by the company prior to its initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange in January 1998 under the symbol RIM.[9]

In 1996, RIM introduced the Interactive Pager, the first two-way messaging pager, and the RIM 900 OEM radio modem. The company developed the pager prototype with the support of Intel Corporation.[10] The company worked with RAM Mobile Data and Ericsson to turn the Ericsson-developed Mobitex wireless data network into a two-way paging and wireless e-mail network. Pivotal in this development was the release of the Inter@ctive Pager 950. In August 1997, a prototype was presented to BellSouth executives, who were impressed with the device and agreed to a $70-million deal that involved the supply of 100,000 devices.[11] The pager started shipping in August 1998. About the size of a bar of soap, this device competed against the Skytel two-way paging network developed by Motorola. [citation needed]

In 1999, RIM introduced the BlackBerry 850 pager. This was also the first device to use the Blackberry OS.[12] Named after its keyboard's similarity to the druplets of the blackberry fruit,[13] the device could receive push email from a Microsoft Exchange Server using its complementary server software, BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). Its introduction set the stage for the company's future enterprise-oriented products, such as the BlackBerry 957 in April 2000, the first BlackBerry smartphone. The BlackBerry OS platform and BES continued to increase in functionality, while the incorporation of encryption and S/MIME support helped BlackBerry devices gain increased usage by governments and businesses.[14][15] During fiscal 1999-2001, RIM's assets grew eight-fold due to massive capacity expansion. [citation needed]

BlackBerry Dynamics (Formerly Good Dynamics)

A Mobile Application Management platform that manages and secures app data through application virtualization. The BlackBerry Dynamics suite of apps includes email, calendar, contacts, tasks, instant messaging, browsing, and document sharing. The BlackBerry Dynamics SDK allows developers to utilize the platform's security, and add functionality from BlackBerry's other solutions into their applications.[186]

Organizational changes

The company was often criticized for its dual CEO structure. Some saw this arrangement as a dysfunctional management structure and believed RIM acted as two companies, slowing the effort to release the new BlackBerry 10 operating system.[112][113] On June 30, 2011, an investor push for the company to split its dual-CEO structure was unexpectedly withdrawn after an agreement was made with RIM.[114]

In 2007, co-CEO Jim Balsillie was forced to resign as chairman as the company announced a $250 million earnings restatement relating to mistakes in how it granted stock options. Furthermore, an internal review found that hundreds of stock-option grants had been backdated, timed to a low share price to make them more lucrative.[115]

In January 2009, Canadian regulators stated that they were seeking a record penalty of US$80 million from the top two executives, co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis. Furthermore, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) pushed for Balsillie to pay the bulk of any penalty and relinquish his seat on RIM's board of directors for a period of time.[116] On February 5, 2009, several executives and directors of Research In Motion agreed to pay the penalties to settle an investigation into the backdating of stock options. The Ontario Securities Commission approved the arrangement in a closed-door meeting. Under the terms of a settlement agreement with the OSC, RIM co-chief executive officers Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, as well as chief operating officer Dennis Kavelman, jointly paid a total of C$68-million to RIM to reimburse the company for losses from the backdating and for the costs of a long internal investigation. The three were also required to pay C$9-million to the OSC. Balsillie resigned from RIM's board of directors temporarily and remained in his executive role.[117][118] In May 2010, almost immediately after the OSC sanctions expired, Balsillie was reappointed to the board in spite of strong shareholder objections.[119]

Lazardis and Balsillie resigned as co-CEOs in January 2012.[120] After years of tension, Balsille left the company entirely, stepping down from his executive role in March 2012.[121] Following their resignations, they were replaced by a single CEO - former co-COO Thorsten Heins.[122] Heins hired investment banks RBC Capital Markets and JP Morgan to seek out potential buyers interested in RIM, while also redoubling efforts on releasing BlackBerry 10.[44]

Following the assumption of role as CEO, Heins made substantial changes to the company's leadership team. Changes included the departures of Chief Technology Officer David Yach; Chief Operating Officer Jim Rowan;[123] Senior Vice President of Software Alan Brenner;[124] Chief Legal Officer, Karima Bawa;[125] and Chief Information Officer Robin Bienfait.[126]

Following the leadership changes, Heins hired Kristian Tear to assume the role of Chief Operating Officer, Frank Boulben to fill the Chief Marketing Officer role[125] and appointed Dan Dodge, the CEO of QNX, to take over as Chief Technology Officer.[127] On July 28, 2012, Steven E. Zipperstein was appointed as the new Vice President and Chief Legal Officer.[128]

On March 28, 2013, Lazaridis relinquished his position as vice chairman and announced his resignation from the board of directors.[129] Later in the year, Heins was replaced by John S. Chen, who assumed the CEO role in the first week of November. Chen's compensation package mainly consists of BlackBerry shares—a total of 13 million—and he will be entitled to the entire number of shares after he has served the company for five years. Heins received an exit package of $22 million.[130]

Chen has a reputation as a "turnaround" CEO,[131] turning the struggling enterprise software and services organization Sybase into enough of a success to sign a merger with SAP in 2010.[132] Chen was open about his plans for BlackBerry upon joining the company, announcing his intent to move away from hardware manufacturing to focus on enterprise software such as QNX, BlackBerry UEM, and AtHoc.[133][134][135]

In June 2011, RIM announced its prediction that Q1 2011 revenue would drop for the first time in nine years, and also unveiled plans to reduce its workforce.

In July 2011, the company cut 2,000 jobs, the biggest lay-off in its history and the first major layoff since November 12, 2002, when the company laid off 10% of its workforce (200 employees).[136] The lay-off reduced the workforce by around 11%, from 19,000 employees to 17,000.[137]

On June 28, 2012, the company announced a planned workforce reduction of 5,000 by the end of its fiscal 2013, as part of a $1 billion cost savings initiative.[103]

On July 25, 2013, 250 employees from BlackBerry's research and development department and new product testing were laid off. The layoffs were part of the turnaround efforts.[138]

On September 20, 2013, BlackBerry confirmed that the company will have a massive layoff of 4,500 employees by the end of 2013. This would be approximately 40 percent of the company's workforce.[139]

BlackBerry had at its peak about 20,000 employees. After CEO John Chen joined BlackBerry in 2013 there were additional layoffs in February 2015 to compete with smartphones, at which point the total employees numbered 6,225. On July 21, 2015, BlackBerry announced an additional layoff of an unspecified number of employees,[140] with another 200 laid off in February 2016.[141]

As of February 2022[update], the company had 3,225 employees.[2]

The BlackBerry OS was intended to operate under much different, simpler conditions such as low powered devices, narrow network bandwidth, and high-security enterprises. However, the aging platform struggled with emerging trends like mobile web browsing, consumer applications, multimedia and touch screen interfaces. Users experienced performance issues, usability problems and instability.[26]

The company tried to enhance the old platform, but ultimately decided to build a new platform with QNX at its core.[112][7]

BlackBerry Unified Endpoint Manager (UEM)

An Enterprise Mobility Management platform that provides provisional and access control over smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops with support for all major platforms including iOS, Android (including Android for Work and Samsung KNOX), BlackBerry 10, Windows 10, and Mac OS. UEM (formerly known as BES) also acts as a unified management console and server for BlackBerry Dynamics, BlackBerry Workspaces, and BlackBerry 2FA.[185]