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New BlackBerry CEO lobs insults at iPhone owners

Published Mar 10th, 2014 11:00AM EDT
BlackBerry CEO Interview

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As BlackBerry looks to pull itself out of the fire and regain its former glory, new chief executive John Chen has so far done a good job of convincing investors that BlackBerry’s chances of a meaningful turnaround are real. As noted in a recent BGR report, BlackBerry shares have been screaming so far in 2014, gaining 36% through the first two months of the year and outpacing the company’s top mobile platform rivals by a huge margin. According to comments made last week, however, Chen’s confidence might be starting to get the best of him.

At the recent Oasis Montgomery conference in Santa Monica, California, Chen was asked about Apple’s success with the iPhone. The CEO immediately began joking about Apple’s popular smartphone, laughing about how poor the iPhone’s battery performance is. “I call you guys wall huggers,” Chen said, referring to iPhone users’ apparent need to always be near a power outlet.

Chen continued to joke when asked why he decided to leave private equity firm Silver Lake to leak BlackBerry’s comeback efforts.

“I wanted to do something where I could wake up every day and worry,” Checn replied, according to Yahoo Finance. “And I have fulfilled my dream.”

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.