Blackberry’s business model canvas
Customer segments
Blackberry phones have traditionally been designed to meet the needs of business professionals only. These phones are not meant for the average mobile phone user and older models were famous for allowing people to respond to emails. This was in addition to helping them get their work easily organized using inbuilt schedulers (Sweeney, 2009). However, a number of style modifications have been made to suit the desires of younger generation business professionals, who are generally intrigued by style and function. For instance, the Blackberry 8900 has an auto focus 3.2mp camera that also works as a video recorder (Kare-Silver, 2011). This is in a bid to attract the interest of the social crowd. Recent models of the Blackberry come with pre-loaded games and social applications such as twitter, features which are meant to attract the younger user.
Value proposition
The Blackberry was the first mobile phone that enabled users to send emails over a telecommunication network. Business professionals, who were sometimes required to respond to emails to seal deals, could do so from anywhere with these phones. Blackberries were also the first phones to come with a QWERTY keypad, which made typing easier at a time when other phone users had to press keys at least three times to get to some letters.
Channels
Traditionally, Blackberry knew that their strength was in the QWERTY keyboard, which made typing text messages easier and the access to emails on the go (Dixon, 2014). With this information in mind, they made sure that they made the two features their main selling point in advertisements. They also ensured that the design style was one that mainly captured the eye of the business professional. This strategy created a buzz around the product that has seen the company continue to sell numerous phones even with their prices being on the higher side compared to other gadgets in the same class.
Customer relationships
From inception, Blackberry set out to provide products and services that would meet the needs of the choosy business professionals. Because of this plan, the phones were taken through rigorous quality checks before being released to the market. The company offered longer warranties because of the faith they had in their phones and whenever customers complained their issues were appropriately addressed. Blackberry was among the first gadget-making companies to start training schools for their customer support representatives, where individuals were taught on how to properly respond to queries and complaints. This in turn gave the company a good reputation with most customers maintaining loyalty on account of the great service they received.
Revenue streams
Most of Blackberry’s revenues come from the sale of phones and other telecommunication devices like walkie-talkies, and services such as email delivery. A small percentage of the company’s revenues comes from the sale of software that are used together with their hand-held devices.
Key resources
Blackberry’s main operations are based in Canada, its country of origin but the production of the gadgets mainly takes place in Asia, particularly Malaysia and China (Jeb, 2014). For the sale and marketing of its products, Blackberry has established outlets in most countries across the world, in addition to selling from their website.
Key activities
For Blackberry to remain relevant in the market, they need to start embracing modern trends in mobile device development. For instance, touch screen technology has been the primary success of rival companies such as Nokia and it is time that Blackberry starts to consider including the feature in most of its new releases.
Partnerships
Blackberry has for a long time had partnerships with mobile-services providers across the world to help in the promotion of their products and services. In a bid to compete well in the market, the company is looking towards forging alliances with some yet to be named companies as a way of maintaining dominance in the enterprise market.
Costs
The costs incurred in the production, marketing and sale of Blackberry hand-held devices, Software and services make it both a cost and value driven business (Mittal and Gupta, 2010). The company has to buy raw materials, pay staff and cover for other expenses incurred in getting the product to the market, on a daily basis. Raw materials and staff salaries consume the most money from Blackberry’s annual budget.
New Business Model
The main reason as to why Blackberry’s sales have been dwindling is its narrow focus and the entry of more powerful phone options. The development of cheaper phones that can access the internet have made Blackberry’s email access selling point irrelevant. Competing phone companies have also installed QWERTY keypads on their gadgets, with all of the newer touch-screen phones bearing the keypad arrangement that made Blackberry sell like hot cake in the past. Focus on a select class in society has also greatly contributed to the demise of the Blackberry. This is because the increased options provided by competing companies have attracted members of the business class. In order to regain its supremacy in the market, Blackberry needs to rethink its strategy, and I recommend that the new approach be centered redefining the target customer.
The historical success that Blackberry has had by the narrow focus on the business class is untenable and its time that the company starts creating products that will appeal to the masses. To this end, an assessment team needs to be set up to study the market and identify the kinds of mobile phones and other hand-held devices that are selling the most in the world. This study will give a clear picture of the class that the company should be targeting with its products. Next, a feasibility study should be conducted with the main aim being to find out how much it would cost to profitably produce and market middle-to-low end products. Because people already trust the Blackberry brand, affordable models of the phones will not be easily disregarded as bad. By adopting this model, Blackberry will get a new category of fans who will keep the business coming in, without having to greatly compromise on the brand quality that the company has already developed. This approach will also call for slight change in the way Blackberry handles its marketing and sales functions. Online sales are driving other companies’ profits and it is important that Blackberry increases efforts to sell over the internet.
New Blackberry business canvas
Customer segments
In the new business model, Blackberry phones has shaken off the impression that they are phones meant for business professionals only. Instead, the company now focuses on the production of phones that are meant for the average mobile phone users. A number of style changes have been instituted in order to appeal to the desires of the different classes of people. Some of the changes that have been made include more social applications such as WhatsApp, something that aims at capturing the interest of most youthful customers.
Value proposition
New releases of the Blackberry have all the features found on other brands, in addition to the organised functionalities that would appeal to the business class. The idea is to get customers to see the Blackberry as a brand that they can go to for phones that would meet all of their varying needs.
Channels
After creating a new set of budget-class Blackberry phones, the next step is to get the market excited about the product. Social media is a good platform for giving new products the publicity needed to make them do well in the market. A lot of the advertising investment has been directed at advertising on social media and online platforms.
Customer relationships
Blackberry has been known as a company that provides high quality products and services. The phones that are being released into the market are taken through rigorous quality checks before being released to the market. The company continues to offer longer warranties because of the faith in the quality of the phones produced and customer complaints are appropriately addressed. Customer support representatives are continuously taught on how to properly respond to queries and complaints, maintaining the company’s good reputation, something that will encourage customers to maintain loyalty on account of the great service they received.
Revenue streams
Most of Blackberry’s revenues come from the sale of phones and other telecommunication devices like walkie-talkies, and services such as games. The percentage of the company’s revenues comes from the sale of software that are used together with their hand-held devices has also been on an upward spiral.
Key resources
Blackberry’s main operations are based in Canada, but to keep production costs low, manufacturing is done in Malaysia and China. For the sale and marketing of its products, Blackberry has established outlets in most countries across the world, in addition to online sales
Key activities
For Blackberry to remain relevant in the market, there is the need to start embracing developing trends in mobile device development. In this regard, there is a permanent research and development unit whose key mandate is to ensure that the company stays ahead in terms of developing products that excite the market.
Partnerships
Blackberry maintains its long-standing partnerships with mobile-services providers across the world to help in the promotion of their products and services. Companies such as Kenya’s Safaricom, which has a wide network of outlets, are invaluable partners, because they help in the publicizing of new products and even getting the market to easily access them.
Costs
The costs incurred in the production, marketing and sale of Blackberry hand-held devices, Software and services continue make it both a cost and value driven business. The company has to buy raw materials, pay staff and cover for other expenses incurred in getting the product to the market, on a daily basis. Raw materials and staff salaries consume the most money from Blackberry’s annual budget.
Reference List
Dixon, W. (2014). iOS6: A history and a review. USA: Wayne Dixon.
Jeb, J. (2014). Advertising smartphone. New York: Bookpubber.
Kare-Silver, M. (2011). How the digital revolution is changing business and our lives. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Mittal, K. & Gupta, S. (2010). Blackberry for work: Productivity for professionals. New York: Apress.
Sweeney, A. (2009). Blackberry planet: The story of research in motion and the little device. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons.