Blackberry in now in a state of having to cut 4,500 jobs in order to keep the business running. One of the factors that causes such great losses for the company are the large inventory charges caused by the new z10 Blackberry phone, who’s sales are low, USD $900- million losses from unsold phones. This is a sign of poor operation management.

The inventory charges relate to the text of “The Power of Virtual Integration: Interview with Dell Computer’s”, which explains how inventory charges can be minimized. The main goal of virtual integration is to blur the lines between suppliers, manufacturers and costumers. Blackberry is still using distribution channels, which increases inventory time, and costs.  Moreover, delay of launching their new system was one factor that contributed to their huge losses of the new z10.  At last, poor marketing and not enough support by the company lead to crash in sales and the company’s value.

Blackberry is in the struggle of rivalry- Porter’s five forces. Blackberry has huge competitors such as Apple Inc. and Google Inc., which are used as substitutes. The degree of rivalry is enormous.

Article: “Blackberry takes huge losses as sales collapse“by The Globe and Mail, published: September 20th, 2013.