BES12 Creates a 'Challenging Task' for BlackBerry

By Claire Cleveland

Blackberry‘s new EMM solution, BES12, is a step forward for the once-great smartphone maker, but will be a tough sell in a competitive market, says one analyst.

The Canada-based company last week unveiled BES12, which manages devices from major enterprise mobile platforms to connect employees, information and machines. It’s the foundation for BlackBerry’s portfolio that includes enterprise security, productivity, communication and collaboration services.

BES12 will manage a wide range of Samsung phones and tablets as a part of a new partnership.

“With BES12 finally introduced, we believe BlackBerry faces the challenging task of selling not just EMM subscriptions but must also upsell substantial amounts of VAS to potential new subscribers in a highly competitive enterprise mobility market to offset declining services revenue,” said Michael Walkley, Canaccord Genuity analyst. “Given these trends and with BlackBerry now anticipating a faster decline in F’16 Services revenue to $850M versus our $1.05B estimate, we maintain our cautious outlook for returning to sustained profits … “