BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ:BBRY) is a company that has been struggling for some time. There's no denying that. However, I have been watching the company for quite some time now, and I'm here to tell you, I've become a bull. I know, I know, there has been quite a bit of conversation surrounding the company's notice from Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) that it and Whatsapp will no longer be supporting the QNX operating system, but for me, recent developments at BBRY make it so that this isn't concerning. Today, I'll explain why BBRY has had such a rough time in the market, what they're doing to turn things around, and what we can expect to see moving forward.
Why BBRY Has Had Such A Rough Time
If you were into smartphones 10 years ago, you probably wanted a BlackBerry phone. I know I did. In fact, it can be argued that the company was the driving force of innovation in the smartphone industry. However, over time, things started to change for the company. Unfortunately, more and more competition found their way into the industry, each player with their own operating system; and if you're into smartphones, you know that the operating system makes the product.
Well, over time, consumers started to decide which phones were hot, and which were not. While Apple' (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS and Google's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Android operating system drove them to the top of the hot list, BlackBerry's QNX operating system simply couldn't keep up. Soon enough, BBRY only held less than 1% of the smartphone industry while its competition seemingly took over the industry that it nearly singlehandedly created.
BBRY Has Made Some Big Changes
While there's no denying the fact that BBRY still has a long way to go, things started to look good for the company late last year when it offered up a new smartphone known as the Priv. The new smartphone came with the hardware and security that BlackBerry users had fallen in love with. However, there was only one thing different. With the Priv, BBRY decided to ditch its own QNX operating system and use the overwhelmingly popular Android operating system to run the phone. Sure, it was a bitter pill to swallow. However, it was the right move. The Priv flew off the shelves so fast that some orders were delayed. In fact, it was so successful that BBRY said that it would be coming out with a new line of smartphones that run on the Android operating system!
This is a big part of my bullish opinion of BBRY, even after the comments made by Facebook. The truth is that future BlackBerry smartphones will run on the Android operating system. As such, Facebook and Whatsapp will still run on these smartphones. After all, Facebook would be down right stupid to decide not to support Android, given that it is one of the most popular operating systems out there.
There Are Other Reasons To Be Bullish About BBRY
While the move to the Android operating system is definitely a smart one. It's not the only reason I take a bullish stance on BBRY. The truth is that there are plenty reasons to fall in love with this stock. Another big reason to be excited is their QNX operating system. I know, it's not a popular player in smartphones. However, that doesn't mean that it's not a strong product. In fact, BlackBerry has used its operating system to carve out its own niche in one of the fastest growing industries today, the Internet of Things. You may be surprised to find out, but BBRY and its QNX operating system are the reason that some traffic lights turn from red to green when they do. It also runs medical and manufacturing equipment. All in all, BBRY may not be using QNX in phones, but it sure is using it elsewhere!
The Bottom Line
BlackBerry is a company that has been knocked down, there's no denying that. However, there's a difference between knocked down and knocked out. At this point, BBRY is standing back up and getting back into the fight full force. All in all, I'm incredibly impressed with what we've seen from the company recently and believe that it warrants a strong bullish opinion.