#BlackBerry (BB.TO) announced partnerships with
Samsung Electronics Co (005930.KS) and other high-profile tech players on
Thursday, broadening the reach of its new mobile-device management and security
platform, and sending its shares 7 percent higher.
BlackBerry and
Samsung, the world's No. 1 smartphone maker, will offer a "highly secure mobility
solution" for Samsung's Android devices starting in early 2015. The system
will wed BlackBerry's security platform with the South Korean company's own
security software for its Galaxy devices.
"The
partnership with Samsung is a very big deal," said John Jackson, a
technology analyst at IDC. "It's hard to imagine a partnership with more
significant practical impact potential."
BlackBerry said
the tie-up is a long-term commitment.
"To make this
Samsung partnership happen, we went to the highest levels of both companies, so
this is a very serious relationship," said John Sims, BlackBerry's head of
enterprise services, calling the deal "the tip of the iceberg."
BlackBerry also
touted a string of improvements to its existing products, including mobile
video-conferencing via its messaging app and the ability to divide usage costs
between employer and employee.
BlackBerry's
Nasdaq-listed shares closed 7 percent higher at $12.06, their highest close
since June 2013.
CONNECTING
MACHINES
The new platform,
the BlackBerry Enterprise Service, or BES12, will allow corporations and
government agencies to manage and make secure not only BlackBerry's mobile
devices, but also those running operating systems such as Google's (GOOGL.O)
Android, Apple's (AAPL.O) iOS and Microsoft's (MSFT.O) Windows platform.
For the first
time, the platform will also be able to manage and make secure medical
diagnostic equipment, industrial machinery and even cars.
The company also
announced a BES12 deal with Brightstar, the world's largest wireless
distribution company, and a tie-up with business software company
Salesforce.com (CRM.N) that will let clients in healthcare and other regulated
industries that use Sales force software securely access data via the
BlackBerry platform.
"This plan is
not different from what I laid out on day one, but it was hard for people to
comprehend and believe me then as things were a mess then," BlackBerry
Chief Executive John Chen said. "The key message today is the ecosystem is
coming back and the telecoms are very excited."
The new products
and services are the backbone of Chen's plan to turn around the smartphone
pioneer, whose devices have lost ground to Apple's iPhone, Samsung's Galaxy
devices and a slew of other gadgets powered by Google's Android platform.
While still a
player in the smartphone business, BlackBerry is pivoting its focus to services
and the demands of a large base of enterprise clients that are increasingly
grappling with data security concerns.
The Waterloo,
Ontario-based company said its customers have registered for 5.1 million BES
licenses since it launched a migration push in March, with some 30 percent of
them moving from rival mobile-device management platforms.
BlackBerry also
said it will launch its long-awaited Classic smartphone on Dec. 17 at events in
New York, Frankfurt and Singapore. The device, which bears similarities to the
once popular BlackBerry Bold, will go on sale immediately in launch markets and
be priced at $449.
(Published by
ettefreeguy)
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