BlackBerry

BlackBerry Limited is a Canadian based multinational company specializing in enterprise software and the Internet of things. Best known to the general public as the former developer of the BlackBerry brand of smartphones, and tablets, it transitioned to an enterprise software and services company under CEO John S. Chen. Its products are used worldwide by various businesses, car makers, and government agencies, and include the AtHoc crisis communications platform, the QNX real-time operating system, and BlackBerry UEM, an endpoint management platform. BlackBerry was founded in 1984 as Research In Motion by Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin. Fregin retired from the company in 2007. In 1992, Lazaridis hired Jim Balsillie, and Lazaridis and Balsillie served as co-CEOs until January 22, 2012. In November 2013, John S. Chen took over as CEO. His initial strategy was to subcontract manufacturing to Foxconn, and to focus on software technology. Currently, his strategy includes forming licensing partnerships with device manufacturers such as TCL Communication, and unifying BlackBerry’s software portfolio.