Despite the recent news that BlackBerry may have finally found a buyer if the Fairfax deal doesn’t fall apart, the company’s future as a smartphone vendor is still in jeopardy. The company’s global subscriber base had been holding up as users waited to see what BlackBerry 10 would offer. Since the new platform’s launch, however, BlackBerry has been hemorrhaging users and its worldwide count fell to 72 million from 76 million during the May quarter. According to one industry watcher, the bleeding won’t stop until BlackBerry’s subscriber base hits zero.
“We have been steadfast in our position that BlackBerry should downsize and focus on the enterprise, a strategy the company will now pursue,” National Bank Financial analyst Kris Thompson wrote in a note to investors on Monday evening. “Our view now is that any recovery is very unlikely.”
Thompson cut his price target on BlackBerry shares to $5 from $8 and said that within the next two to three years, BlackBerry won’t have a single smartphone subscriber left.
