Is there really a light at the end of the tunnel for Canadian smartphone manufacturer BlackBerry? Investors who backed the USD1 billion convertible bond deal seem to believe so.
John Chen, 58, was named interim CEO and executive chairman on the same day BlackBerry abandoned plans to sell itself.
Hope springs eternal for the Hong Kong native, who said that he is not daunted by skepticisms about BlackBerry's ability to bounce back from its spectacular fall. In an interview with Reuters, Chen said that he wouldn't be interested if not for the challenges beseting the company.
Then CEO of Sybase, Chen was credited for the turnaround of the computer database software maker in 1998. At the time, Sybase had little to no credibility with Wall Street and posted an operating loss of USD98 million. A decade later, Chen sold Sybase to SAP for USD5.8 billion.
But with a declining subscriber base, falling shipments worldwide, the defection of clients and market share loss, will Chen be able to keep his word?
Hopefully he doesn't do another Thorsten Heins.
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