BlackBerry delivers the Passport

A small, high-tech square could bring an ailing Canadian business giant full-circle in the next few years.  BlackBerry unveiled it’s new ‘Passport’ device today with much fanfare in Toronto, London, and Dubai.  And company CEO John Chen is confident that the bold new design will return the Waterloo-based BlackBerry, to its former lofty heights.

BlackBerry CEO John Chen didn’t try to side-step the tough times that BlackBerry has been through in the last few years.

But if it was worried about the success of the latest BlackBerry offering, he wasn’t showing it at all.  Chen made it clear that the new Passport is not built for social media.  It’s designed specifically for productivity.  The company is aiming at business, government, and medical professionals that need a device with high security, long battery life, and some powerful mobile computing features.  That consumer group takes in roughly 30 percent of all mobile users, and it’s that niche, that BlackBerry is aiming to dominate once more.

Chen seemed so confident in the new Passport in fact, that he even felt comfortable enough to throw out a couple of jokes to his audience during his presentation.  One aimed at a special guest for the launch — hockey great Wayne Gretzky who, oddly enough, seemed a little bit nervous performing outside of his natural arena.

Although BlackBerry’s financial position has been slowly improving, they may still fall short of a profit in the fourth quarter.  To make the Passport successful, and bring the company back to black, BlackBerry will have to sell ten-million handset units in the next year.  So far, they have shipped just over two-and a half million.