Over the coming weeks, BlackBerry
will unveil a marketing campaign it says forgoes the traditional launch event in favour of spending on advertising throughout the crucial holiday shopping season. The goal of boosting BlackBerry sales could prove a huge challenge against a slate of high-end devices from industry giants, particularly Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy.
This year, sales of a variety of cheaper phones, like Google's Nexus, Sony and LG, have also picked up momentum, and that could make it harder for BlackBerry to pitch a compelling case to invest in its pricier device, which lists for $899 at BlackBerry's Canadian web store without a carrier contract.
If the Priv doesn't sell, BlackBerry would likely scale back its staff even further and pivot attention to its software licensing and services division.
Chief operating officer Marty Beard said BlackBerry executives have been focused on ensuring that doesn't happen.
"We're doing everything we can to make hardware a profitable business, of which meeting our business case objectives for Priv is a very important part," he said.
"We have a down-to-the-penny view on what we need to achieve with Priv and we're very focused on that."
While Beard wouldn't provide presales figures, he said advance orders for the Priv have been "much" better than the Passport, Classic and Leap devices.
Executives have also emphasized that despite pairing with Android, the company isn't abandoning its BlackBerry 10 operating system. It plans to offer new updates in early 2016.
Before the middle of next year, Chen needs to make a few big decisions, including whether there's still hope in making BlackBerry phones a viable business.
While outsiders might be skeptical, the CEO said he's confident the hardware division can still become profitable.
"It's doable," he said. "Otherwise we wouldn't be doing it."
The Canadian Press