Blackberry Vs. Nokia: Life After Hardware

A decade ago, two of the biggest names in the mobile phone business were BlackBerry Ltd BBRY and Nokia Corp (ADR) NOK. Today, BlackBerry and Nokia phones are endangered species.

Bye Bye, Hardware

Earlier this year, BlackBerry officially announced the end of the BlackBerry smartphone era. As of September, BlackBerry no longer makes its own devices. Instead, the company will rely on other manufacturers to produce BlackBerry hardware. Looking ahead, the company intends to focus on higher-growth areas such as mobile and security software, apps and the Internet of Things.

The decision to nix smartphone production was well-received by the market, but BlackBerry still has a long way to go to right the ship. Quarterly revenue continues to decline in the 25–45 percent range.

Nokia sold its struggling smartphone unit to Microsoft Corporation MSFT back in 2014, and even Microsoft hasn’t been able to do much with it since. Microsoft was last seen cutting 4,700 jobs in its smartphone division this year as Windows phones continue to struggle to gain traction in the market. At this point, Microsoft has cut nearly all the former Nokia staff.

Today, Nokia no longer produces any devices itself. Instead, it sells licenses for its brand and designs to third-party manufacturers.

Bottom Line For Life After Hardware

Unlike BlackBerry, Nokia has actually delivered positive revenue growth in the 78–97 percent range in the past three quarters. Unfortunately, EPS is down 50–70 percent in that same stretch.

At this point, Nokia and BlackBerry are simply shells of the dominant hardware companies they once were. Until either company shows significant progress in re-defining its image, both stocks are speculative bets at best.

At Last Check

• BlackBerry shares were up 3.83 percent at $8.01.
• Nokia shares were up 0.1 percent at $4.89.