黑莓背水一战

    为了赢回消费者，海因斯在2012年下半年花费了大量时间，亲自拜访不同企业的首席信息官、运营商、科技评论员和其他举足轻重的人物。公司尤其将赌注压在了首席信息官身上，他们长期以来都是黑莓的最大消费群体。公司相信他们会帮助公司重新夺回市场上的位置。这个赌注很冒险：由于员工在选购手机时拥有更多的自主权，企业购买方式在近几年发生了变化，很多人都选择了苹果和安卓系统的产品。根据康姆思科（Comscore）的数据，在至关重要的北美市场，这两家巨头已经占据了89%的市场。黑莓的市场份额则从两年前的34%降到了现在的7%。

    重新赢回智能手机的用户也许会异常困难。因为顾客会逐渐发现他们离不开某家公司的系统，更换的代价很大。比如，安卓系统的手机整合了Gmail和谷歌地图，而iPhone能够让用户轻松把内容共享到iPad和苹果电视上。两家公司都拥有包含超过60万应用的商店，而黑莓只有12万。此外，为了削减开支，首席信息官们放宽了政策，允许员工携带个人设备上班。【弗雷斯特研究公司（Forrester Research）去年的调查显示，北美和欧洲公司54%的决策者表示他们实行了所谓的“自带设备”计划。】

    然而，智能手机只是海因斯雄心勃勃的扩张移动计算计划的一步。他已经暗示，将要发布新款的平板电脑。公司新操作系统采用的技术来自2010年购买的QNX软件系统。它可以编写许多复杂的软件，目前已被植入了许多汽车以及诸如电视和航空控制系统等移动设备中。这是黑莓迈向未来的光明之窗。海因斯说：“凭借QNX系统，我们如今在汽车领域已经拥有了很强的实力。想想看，这还可以让我们在医疗和金融服务领域大显身手。”

    下一步怎么走？

    从现实意义上讲，黑莓能期望一个怎样的未来呢？在上周，联想公司（Lenovo）首席财务官黄伟明向媒体表示，已经同这家加拿大手机制造商及其银行家讨论了各种战略联盟的可行性，暗示可能会进行收购。受此消息影响，黑莓股价上涨了2.3%。但黄伟明之后澄清说，他只是概括地谈了谈联想的兼并和收购计划。此外，任何可能的收购都需要面临加拿大政府的管制障碍，并获得他们的批准。然而，这件事也提醒大家，即便黑莓公司正在为初次亮相做准备，它仍然拥有许多战略选择可供考虑。

    早些时候，海因斯聘请摩根大通（J.P. Morgan）评估公司的战略选择。他说他别无选择。他表示：“太多人怀疑RIM能否渡过难关。”战略评估仍在继续，但是海因斯解释道，最近已将重心转移到面向未来的想法上，而不是如何走出这一困境。海因斯说：“要成为移动计算领域的领袖，我们正尝试着建立更广阔的生态体系。我们问自己：‘为了达成目标，我们有哪些战略选择？’”他在考虑一切可能性，包括像安卓和微软一样，将黑莓的生态体系授权给其他厂商。这可能会让三星（Samsung）这样的手机厂商拥有他们渴望已久的议价能力。

    不过如果黑莓希望把操作系统授权给其他厂商，首先需要证明它有这个实力。就像谷歌起初发布的Nexus手机一样，黑莓如今需要展现其软件的潜力。海因斯说：“这就是为什么这次产品发布这么重要。”(财富中文网)

    译者：严匡正

    To lure customers back, Heins has spent much of the second half of 2012 traveling personally to visit CIOs, carriers, technology reviewers, and other influencers. In particular, the company is betting that the chief information officers who have long been BlackBerry's largest customer base will help the company become relevant in the market again. It's a dicey bet: corporate buying patterns have changed in recent years as employees increasingly have more control over their choice of smartphone, and many are opting for Apple and Android-powered devices. In the all-important North American market, this duopoly holds 89% of the market, according to Comscore (SCOR). BlackBerry has seen its share of that market fall to 7% from 34% two years ago.

    Winning back smartphone users may be particularly difficult because customers increasingly find themselves locked into one company's ecosystem and the cost of switching is high. An Android-powered phone, for example, integrates effortlessly with Gmail and Google Maps, while an iPhone makes it easy for users to share material with an iPad or an Apple TV. Both companies have app stores with more than 600,000 apps in them; RIM has just 120,000. What's more, in a bid to cut their costs, CIOs have loosened up policies to allow employees to bring their personal devices to work. (In a survey conducted last year by Forrester Research (FORR), some 54% of decision makers at North American and European companies indicated they are implementing a so-called BYOD program.)

    However, smartphones are just one step in Heins' ambitious goal to power mobile computing more broadly. He has already hinted at a coming tablet release. And the company's new operating system is built with technology from its 2010 purchase of QNX Software Systems, a maker of sophisticated software that is already embedded in many cars as well as other types of mobile devices such as TV sets and air traffic control systems. It offers a window into BlackBerry's future. Says Heins, "We're already strong in automotive with QNX today. Think about what this could do for healthcare or financial services."

    What's next?

    Realistically, what kind of future can BlackBerry hope to have? Last week BlackBerry's shares rose 2.3% after Lenovo's chief financial officer Wong Waiming told a media outlet that the company had spoken to the Canadian phone maker and its bankers about various strategic alliances, implying a potential acquisition. Waiming later backtracked, explaining that he was speaking more broadly about Lenovo mergers and acquisitions. What's more, any potential acquisition would face major regulatory hurdles from the Canadian government, which would need to issue approval. Nevertheless, it's a reminder that even as BlackBerry prepares for its debut, it has its strategic options well in view.

    Early on, Heins hired J.P. Morgan (JMP) to evaluate what the company's options were. He says he had no choice. "There was a lot of doubt about whether RIM was going to make it," Heins reflects. This strategic review continues, but Heins explains that more recently the focus has shifted to future-oriented ideas rather than the how-do-we-get-out-of-this-mess approach at its inception. Says Heins, "To be a leader in mobile computing, we are trying to create a broader ecosystem. We are asking, 'what are your strategic options to get there?'" He is considering everything, including licensing the BlackBerry ecosystem as Android and Microsoft (MSFT) have done to other manufacturers. That might give device makers such as Samsung the bargaining power they are desperate for.

    But if BlackBerry hopes to license its operating system, it will have to prove first that it works. Much like Google did with its original Nexus phone, BlackBerry now needs to showcase the potential for its software. Says Heins, "That's why the launch is so important."