BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) has received an order for 2,000 Q10 smartphones from Hispanic broadcaster Univision Communications. The smartphone maker announced that BlackBerry Q10 will replace all phones being used by employees at Univision.
Univision is one of the most dominating broadcast networks in the United States, with more than 60 local broadcast TV stations and nearly 70 radio stations that broadcast primarily in Spanish.
BlackBerry working to retain longtime business customers
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) has been making efforts to grab orders for its smart devices from longtime business customers. The Waterloo, Ontario based company has taken this strategic marketing plan to retain clients who are switching to competitors’ smartphones like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone and devices based on Android.
BlackBerry sailed successfully through a “critical step forward in the security certification process” by the United States Department of Defense, and received permission to operate in Pentagon networks.
However, the Canadian company has not been able to shake itself free from losses as recent launches of BlackBerry OS 10 devices have been tagged as a flop in terms of sales.
According to Juniper, a U.K. based research firm, the company is losing market share in geographies where it was the most dominating force once, like South Africa and Indonesia.
What the announcement means?
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB)’s recent order is very small compared to the one it announced in March, which was one million handset deals. BlackBerry cannot flourish on such small orders and it seems like the company is looking at even small orders as a big announcement. One strategy could be that it is not able to secure big orders so more of the small deals will do. However, announcing such small orders indicates that the smartphone pioneer is not getting even enough of those small orders.
Instead of announcing a single small order, BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) should provide information as to whether it is securing large enterprise deals or batches of small deals like that of Univision.
BlackBerry curtailing expenses
in a quest to rebound from the current scenario, BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is trying to curtail expenses throughout its operation. BlackBerry slashed thousands of jobs, reaching from lower level employees to executives. Earlier this month, the company reduced 100 more jobs.
Additionally, BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is also reviewing strategic options that could result in the sale of its operations, and the company may go private.
