You might recall earlier in the month the announcement of BlackBerry's latest hardware, namely the SecuTab. This tablet device is built with security in mind, and is currently undergoing extensive testing and certification by the German Government so it can be used for classified material.
It's also based around the Samsung Galaxy S 10.5 tablet. As it was announced, I commented that this was a smart move by BlackBerry, allowing itself to focus on a niche specification that would normally be passed over by other manufacturers.
Since then a number of commenters have looked at the decision and questioned some of BlackBerry's goals - why is the company focusing on another form factor, does this send a mixed message to buyers, it's the wrong focus; were some of the sentiments written online.
I think these all do a disservice to BlackBerry's security credentials which still remain strong in certain verticals, including government work. I suspect the SecuTab is not going to be easily available to consumers, but will be pitched and offered as a turn-key package to government departments and contractors where security certification is vital. While there will still be marketing, there's no need in these scenarios to work on a marketing plan to sell the concept to the general public.
After all, there's enough consumer knowledge about BlackBerry as 'the phones with the little keyboards' to give the BlackBerry Passport, Leap, and Classic devices enough recognition in stores for those who need that sort of thing. Trying to push a consumer tablet with BlackBerry's limited resources would be foolhardy at best, especially in the current climate of stagnating tablet sales due to a mix of longevity of the existing tablet hardware and the saturating market.
(Now read how the BlackBerry Classic compares to Apple's iPhone 6).
It also does a disservice to the long-term plans for the company. While software is currently a much smaller percentage of BlackBerry's revenue (around 7% of income, compared to hardware and enterprise sales), it is growing. CEO John Chen is targeting software revenue on the order of $250 million in FY 2015, and doubling that to $500 million in FY 2016.
In that sense, BlackBerry is trying to 'pull a Microsoft' by focusing on cloud based services, while allowing its client software to run on other platforms. BlackBerry's instant messaging service is available on Android, iOS, and Windows Phone, as well as BlackBerry's own devices.
While BlackBerry is still selling its consumer devices, these are no longer built 'in-house' by the Canadian company. Instead they are built by Foxconn as part of a five-year deal, reducing BlackBerry's hardware expenses. I suspect that one reason the SecuTab is an attractive option is that the hardware is based around one of Samsung's popular tablet, and BlackBerry is adding in some knowledge as well as much of the software, to the solution.
As well as highlighting the ability to create bespoke hardware in an almost off-the-shelf style operation the SecuTab highlights BlackBerry's experience in software. This is where Chen believes the growth market is, rather than in selling hardware. I would expect BlackBerry to continue with niche/bespoke hardware (it is, after all, a five-year deal), but over the next few years I expect to see it scale up the software business to become the primary income generator for the company.
