Will Blackberry and Sony shut their phone operations next year? CEOs both admit 'it's make or break in 2016'
- Both Sony's CEO and BlackBerry's boss made the comment this week
- They separately admitted that 2016 could be a make or break year for them
- Sony said it would 'consider its options' if its mobile division failed to make a profit, while BlackBerry would 'never say never' to closing it down
In the battle of the smartphones, two contenders are making plans to bow out of the fight.
Both Sony's chief executive and BlackBerry's boss have separately admitted this week that 2016 could be a make or break year for their respective phone businesses.
Sony said it would 'consider its options' if the firm's mobile division failed to make a profit, while BlackBerry claimed it would 'never say never' to closing down its hardware teams.
Both Sony's chief executive and BlackBerry's boss have separately admitted that 2016 could be a make or break year for their respective phone divisions. BlackBerry's John Chen (pictured) said he would 'never say never' to closing down hardware teams. This would leave the firm free to concentrate on enterprise software
Sony Corp's chief executive Kazuo Hirai made his comments to a group of reporters.
After years of losses, he engineered a successful restructuring that saw the firm cut costs, close its PC arm and boost sales of image sensors and games.
Share this article
But its smartphone business has been slow to turn around.
'We will continue with the business as long as we are on track with the scenario of breaking even next year onwards,' Mr Hirai said.
'Otherwise, we haven't eliminated the consideration of alternative options.'
Sony phones, including its Xperia-branded range took only 17.5 per cent of the market in Japan and less than 1 per cent in North America, according to company data last year.
The electronics giant in July lowered its forecast for its mobile communications unit to an operating loss of 60 billion yen in the current fiscal year from an earlier estimate of a 39 billion yen loss.
'I do have a feeling that a turnaround in our electronics business has shown progress,' Mr Hirai continued.
'The result of three years of restructuring are starting to show but we still need to carry out restructuring in smartphones.'
Next year's profits will rely heavily on the success of the Xperia Z5 range unveiled at last month's IFA conference in Berlin.
The key development in all the handsets, named the Xperia Z5, Z5 Compact and 4K Xperia Z5 Premium, is the camera.
Sony Corp's chief executive Kazuo Hirai (pictured) made his comments to a group of reporters. 'We will continue with the business as long as we are on track with the scenario of breaking even next year onwards,' he said. 'Otherwise, we haven't eliminated the consideration of alternative options'
Next year's profits will rely on the success of the Xperia Z5 range unveiled at last month's IFA conference in Berlin. The key development in all the handsets, named the Xperia Z5 (pictured), Z5 Compact and 4K Xperia Z5 Premium, is the camera
Each of the Android 5.1 Lollipop handsets boast a 23MP sensor with super-fast focus technology, and they each support an interchangeable lens system.
Elsewhere, BlackBerry's chief executive John Chen said during a panel interview at the Code/Mobile conference that the company may close its hardware business if it isn't profitable next year.
He continued that he 'never says never' to making such drastic moves, and the firm could then focus on its software and enterprise platforms.
That said, it doesn't mean it has given up on its phone range.
It recently allowed Android apps to run on BlackBerry phones and recently unveiled plans for an Android handset called Priv.
Mr Chen added that he believes BlackBerry's security background will help boost Android, and in turn this will help the company continue.
By comparison, rival Apple announced record results for the quarter ending 27 June 2015, fuelled by record sales of iPhone and Mac, all-time record revenue from services and the Apple Watch (iPhone 6s is pictured)
By comparison, rival Apple announced record results for the quarter ending 27 June 2015, fuelled by record sales of iPhone and Mac, all-time record revenue from services and the Apple Watch.
The company posted quarterly revenue of $49.6 billion (£32.4 billion) and quarterly net profit of $10.7 billion (£7 billion), up from $37.4 billion (£24.4 billion) and $7.7 billion (£5 billion) the year before.
Earlier this week, Samsung Electronics said it expects its operating profit to beat forecasts thanks to semiconductor sales.
It forecasts that operating profit jumped nearly 80 per cent from a year ago to 7.3 trillion won ($6.29 billion/£4.13billion).
This is in excess of analyst expectations of 6.8 trillion won and would signal the firm's first quarterly profit growth in two years.
Alternatively, HTC posted quarterly losses for the second consecutive quarter at the start of October after its revenue halved to NT$21.40 billion (£430 million).
Most watched News videos
- Shocking moment school volunteer upskirts a woman at Target
- Sweet moment Wills handed get well soon cards for Kate and Charles
- Appalling moment student slaps woman teacher twice across the face
- 'Inhumane' woman wheels CORPSE into bank to get loan 'signed off'
- Shocking scenes in Dubai as British resident shows torrential rain
- Prince William resumes official duties after Kate's cancer diagnosis
- Chaos in Dubai morning after over year and half's worth of rain fell
- 'Incredibly difficult' for Sturgeon after husband formally charged
- Rishi on moral mission to combat 'unsustainable' sick note culture
- Mel Stride: Sick note culture 'not good for economy'
- Jewish campaigner gets told to leave Pro-Palestinian march in London
- Shocking video shows bully beating disabled girl in wheelchair
