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黑莓离场 英雄落幕?

所属教程:金融时报原文阅读

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2020年06月30日

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黑莓离场 英雄落幕?

在巅峰时期,每销售的5部智能手机当中就有一部是黑莓手机,这些黑莓手机成为企业高管的标配。而该公司今天证实将停止研发和生产智能手机。财报显示,在今年第二财政季度营收为3.34亿美元,净亏损3.72亿美元。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识:

pioneering首创的;先驱的[paɪə'nɪərɪŋ]

coveted垂涎的;梦寐以求的['kʌvitid]

zenith顶峰;顶点;最高点['zenɪθ]

haemorrhage出血['hemərɪdʒ]

ramp down斜降;缓降;软停止

dismay使沮丧;使惊慌[dɪs'meɪ]

appease使满足;使和缓;对…让步[ə'piːz]

joint venture合资企业;联合经营

BlackBerry hangs up on handset business(652words)

By David Crow in New York

BlackBerry,the pioneering smartphone maker,said it would stop making its own handsets and pull out of the devices business entirely,as the company behind the tiny Qwerty keyboard once coveted by the corporate world focuses on selling software and services instead.

The Canadian group said it would“end all internal hardware development”with immediate effect,and instead license its brand and software to third-party manufacturers,who would develop phones bearing the BlackBerry badge.

“It’s the end of the line for the firm’s hardware business,”said Nick McQuire,an analyst at CCS Insight.

At its zenith in 2008,BlackBerry accounted for one in every five smartphones sold,after its handsets became a staple for business executives. Designed to be as easy for writing emails as making phone calls,they eventually captured the consumer market too.

As sales soared,the company’s market value hit $80bn,compared with roughly $4bn today.

Since its peak in popularity it has haemorrhaged sales in the face of strong competition from Apple and Samsung,as well as low-cost Asian manufacturers,leaving it with a share of the global smartphone market that is practically a rounding error: 0.1 per cent,according to Gartner.

Revenues from the company’s smartphones slumped to $105m in the latest quarter,compared with $417m in the same period of last year.

Shares in BlackBerry gained 2.6 per cent in early trading in New York as the company predicted the moves would boost profitability

John Chen,chief executive,said the company had signed a licensing deal with BB Merah Putih,an Indonesian joint venture led by one of the country’s largest telecoms groups,PT Tiphone Mobile Indonesia,which would have sole responsibility for making,promoting and distributing devices in the region.

The company is exploring similar deals with groups in India and China,he said.

But in regions such as the US and Europe,a hardcore of loyal BlackBerry customers or“Crackberry addicts”will struggle to buy new devices,unless the company finds a partner,Mr Chen said.

“My new model is to ramp down the selling of hardware anywhere — but we might have partners to sell it,”he said.

Some Crackberry addicts responded with dismay to Mr Chen’s decision and took to social networks such as Reddit to express their displeasure.

“This is really disappointing — if it’s not BlackBerry hardware,what’s the point of buying a BlackBerry,”said one.

Another added:“I definitely consider myself a fan first and can only hope there is one last phone to appease BlackBerry addicts on the way.”

But in a sign that BlackBerry is pursuing a hard exit from the smartphone business,Mr Chen said the company would not take an equity stake in any of the joint ventures,and would instead receive a royalty on each device sold by a third party.

“We have nothing to do with the joint venture — we are not part of it,”he said.“All we did was license our brand and software.”

He said the moves would result in“a long list of savings on people,equipment and so forth”,allowing BlackBerry to upgrade its full-year forecasts: the company had been expecting an annual loss of 15 cents per share,but is predicting between a 5 cent loss and break-even.

BlackBerry’s departure from the smartphone business is the most radical step taken by Mr Chen,who joined as chief executive in 2013 with a pledge to transform it into a security-focused software company.

He has expanded the software division in recent months through a string of acquisitions,including Good Technology,a mobile security provider,and AtHoc,a company that helps build emergency alert systems for governments.

BlackBerry broke even in its fiscal second quarter,which runs from June to August,and generated revenues of $352m.

The typical Wall Street analyst had expected the group to post a loss of 5 cents per share on revenues of $391m.

1.What will be BlackBerry’s next production object in the future?

A. smartphone

B. tiny Qwerty keyboard

C. software and services

D. headphones

答案(1)

2.Who will be licensed to develop phones bearing the BlackBerry badge?

A. third-party manufacturers

B. Canadian government

C. BlackBerry

D. no one

答案(2)

3.When was BlackBerry’s zenith,accounted for one in every five smartphones sold?

A. 2006

B. 2008

C. 2010

D. 2013

答案(3)

4.Where did BlackBerry’s CEO focus on after 2013?

A. emergency

B. security

C. fashion

D. policy

答案(4)

(1) 答案:C.software and services

解释:智能手机制造先驱黑莓(BlackBerry)将停止生产自己的手机,退出硬件业务,这家曾经推出一度被商界渴求的迷你型QWERTY键盘的公司今后将致力于销售软件和服务。

(2) 答案:A.third-party manufacturers

解释:这家加拿大集团表示,将其品牌和软件授权给第三方制造商使用,后者将开发带有黑莓标识的手机。

(3) 答案:B.2008

解释:在2008年巅峰时期,每销售的5部智能手机当中就有一部是黑莓手机。

(4) 答案:B.security

解释:黑莓退出智能手机业务是程守宗推出的最为激进的举措,后者在2013年加入黑莓担任首席执行官,并承诺让黑莓转型为聚焦安全的软件公司。

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