Jasmine Chen's Blog

Rumours have been going around that Cerberus Capital Management LP is interested in Blackberry and this article published on October 2nd further confirmed this fact. Blackberry Ltd. has been under extreme pressure to find a buyer as quickly as possible as the sale process itself is likely to be scaring away a big portion of its remaining customers. It is not yet clear whether Cerberus would eventually bid for Blackberry, but in the meanwhile, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. remains the only player holding a tentative offer. Blackberry reported a $1 billion quarterly loss because its new line of smartphones flopped, like the Blackberry Z10. This company, once shining in glory for its qwerty keyboard, has now hit rock bottom as the hype quickly shifted towards Apple’s and Google Android’s virtual keyboard. Reality can sometimes be horrific as the more technology advances, the faster the consumer tastes will change and companies end up having a difficult time keeping up with them whilst keeping a lead from their competitors. They need to adjust in accordance to the needs and wants of the consumers. Companies need to learn to adapt well to changes and for Blackberry right now, what they need is a firm offer in order to salvage any hope of a turnaround.

Sources:

http://www.technesstivity.com/2011/06/rim-going-down-the-beginning-of-the-end/

http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/09/blackberry

The release of the two new iPhone models for Apple resulted in nearly double the sales of previous releases. The article mentioned that the recent launch of the iPhone5S and iPhone5C sent stocks rising up by about 5 percent. Apple said that it sold nine millions new iPhones over the first weekend that they went on sale. That compares with five million iPhone 5 smartphones sold last year in that model’s first weekend. This was the first time Apple released iPhones at the same time in multiple countries around the world. Sales of the new iPhones exceeded analysts’ expectations, as they predicted Apple would sell between five million and eight million. The strong sales gave Apple a much-needed boost as its revenue has been flat and its profit growth has slowed. But Apple always finds a way of bringing itself back to one of the top in the industry. Rumors have been passing around that the company has lost its ability to innovate after the death of Steve Jobs, however, these reports are clearly wrong as it is evident that the company is not only verbally striving for the top in the industry, but they’re taking action and making it happen through differentiation strategy. They make their iPhones appealing to the customers by promoting the sleek and pricey look to its outer appearance and having features that no other phones have; this is also known as using differentiation strategy.

http://www.technewsdaily.com/579-comparing-the-iphone-4-to-other-top-smartphones.html

http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/01/apple-iphone-5s-and-5c-now-available-at-virgin-mobile/