Monthly Archives: October 2013

BlackBerry phones are known to have this unique messaging application which is only available to BlackBerry users, called BBM (BlackBerry Messenger). BlackBerry had filed a lawsuit in Federal Court in Toronto in 2010 allege that the start-up infringed on their patents. The founder and chief executive of the instant messaging service Kik, Ted Livingston, was accused of using knowledge he gained when he was working for BlackBerry.

Kik now has 90 million users around the world compared to the 60 million users BBM has. Kik Messenger is a cross-platform application which also works on the iPhone and any android devices. On the other hand, BlackBerry is still holding on its tiny user base and has failed to expand. However, now that the lawsuit between this two companies has ended, many new opportunities has arisen.  Kik messenger was banned from the BlackBerry application store until now, and it has opened up paths to work together.

It is a big step BlackBerry has taken toward a more diverse target market. Instead of closing itself out, BlackBerry is trying really hard to reach out to more customers, and this sets a great milestone.

Ligaya, Armina. “BlackBerry and Kik settle instant messaging spat.” Financial Post Business BlackBerry and Kik settle instant messagingspat Comments. 08 Oct. 2013 <http://business.financialpost.com/2013/10/07/blackberry-and-kik-settle-instant-messaging-spat/?__lsa=846d-ff04>.

Disneyland is not just “The Place Where Dreams Come True”, it is also a place with great profit and revenue. Out of all six Disney-themed parks throughout the world, the Hong Kong Disneyland is known to be the smallest and most tedious of all. Not only did it not cater well enough to the Chinese market, the Hong Kong version of the Magic Kingdom could not receive the Hong Kong government’s full support due to its “smaller-than expected” attendance.

Disney is wishing to turn this situation around with the new Iron Man-themed thrill ride which will open at Hong Kong Disneyland in late 2016. The “Iron Man 3” movie had scored an exceptionally well box-office in China, taking in $121.2millilon. Disney wants to ride this trend and hope to regain its crown in the booming Chinese theme park market. It is an extremely crucial step for Walt Disney Company as it is trying to enter in the Chinese market in Shanghai. I believe expansion is the first thing the Hong Kong Disneyland should do since it is the main reason why tourists are not revisiting and to shake of its standing as the smallest Disney Park.

Barnes, Brooks. “To Lift Hong Kong Park, Disney Deploys Iron Man – NYTimes.com.” The New York Times – Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/08/business/international/to-lift-hong-kong-park-disney-deploys-iron-man.html?ref=business&_r=0>.

Before the existence of the iPhone, BlackBerry were one of the leading cellphone manufacturers on the market.  It had dominant control in the mature market, targeting company staffs with its sophisticated design and advanced messaging system. However, with the release of the first iPhone, Apple Inc. has taken everything away from BlackBerry. Recently, BlackBerry is laying off another 300 employees, which adds up to more than 7000 jobs being cut since 2011. It has been hopelessly trying to cut cost and hoping to stay in the mobile phone competition. The workforce reduction is not going to stop anytime soon as BlackBerry has announced that further reduction will “impact approximately 4500 workers globally over the next three quarters.”

Instead of laying off employees, BlackBerry should better utilize its staffs and come up with better products for the competition. The problem cannot be solved just through cost-cutting. I believe BlackBerry had targeted a great part of the market but many people were forced to purchase other devices due to BlackBerry’s lack of innovation.

Ligaya, Armina. “BlackBerry Ltd laying off 300 Waterloo-based employees this week.”Financial Post Business BlackBerry Ltd laying off 300 Waterloobased employees thisweek Comments. 08 Oct. 2013 <http://business.financialpost.com/2013/10/07/blackberry-ltd-laying-off-300-waterloo-based-employees-this-week/?__lsa=5eda-42a0>.