BlackBerry CEO Thinks Tablets Will Be Irrelevant Five Years From Now

[Maura]

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BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins has some bad news for Apple today, telling Bloomberg that he doesn’t think tablets have much future, saying, “In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore. Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model.†Rather surprising remarks, you might think, given the success of Apple’s iPad, and it would seem that lots of other people would agree with you, as “BlackBerry CEO†was trending on Twitter worldwide today, with tweeters reporting the comments with varying degrees of incredulity and mirth! As Bloomberg points out, this is probably just BlackBerry’s roundabout, and face-saving, way of saying that they won’t be launching any more BlackBerry playbook tablets, which have certainly failed to set the tablet market alight. Obviously you can’t expect Heins to give any attention to a rival device such as Apple’s iPad, but five years is a long time in tech, so is there any chance that he could be right, and tablets will no longer be the gadget of choice in 2018? [/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Source:[/FONT] BlackBerry CEO Questions Future of Tablets - Bloomberg

 

[Kaykaykay]

BlackBerry is nearly irrelevant now, lol.

The company has proven unable to keep up, much less predict the future. I'd not turn to them from tech foresight.

Q&A: BlackBerry Seeks Momentum - Digits - WSJ

 

[MEdwards]

So what will be relevant, the Blackberry IX? Unlikely.

 

[AQ_OC]

Hmm.....blackberries tablet didn't even last 5 months....no wonder...

 

[Bob Maxey]

Five years is a long time and the public is fickle. For all I know, he could be right.

 

[Kaykaykay]

Five years is a long time and the public is fickle. For all I know, he could be right.

There's a saying along the lines of, even a broken clock is right twice a day, lol.

Of course he could be right. I could win the lottery, too. I just wouldn't count on it.

 

[Gabriel1]

There's a saying along the lines of, even a broken clock is right twice a day, lol.

Of course he could be right. I could win the lottery, too. I just wouldn't count on it.

In five years time the lottery will be irrelevant, the dollar will be withdrawn and we will all use outdated iOS devices as cash.

The Archangel

 

[Kaykaykay]

In five years time the lottery will be irrelevant, the dollar will be withdrawn and we will all use outdated iOS devices as cash.

The Archangel

If that's the case, I'm gonna stop giving my old iDevices away!

 

[Gabriel1]

If that's the case, I'm gonna stop giving my old iDevices away!

Two iPad 2's and an iPod Nano for a cauliflower, I'm stocking up on iOS devices as I love cauliflower!

The Archangel

 

[cwinter]

I read another article somewhere and it seemed to indicate he meant that margins will be so depressed on tablets that they will be irrelevant for profit generation. They gave an example of an Android device very similar in stats to the iPad mini but at half the price. Low priced devices will drive margins down for everyone, just as it did with PCs.

We'll see what the future holds. I, for one, will likely not buy a laptop in the foreseeable future due to tablets, so I'm not sure what that means.

 

[Kaykaykay]

Two iPad 2's and an iPod Nano for a cauliflower, I'm stocking up on iOS devices as I love cauliflower!

The Archangel

I don't like cauliflower, but I will trade for gummy bears!

 

[Kaykaykay]

I read another article somewhere and it seemed to indicate he meant that margins will be so depressed on tablets that they will be irrelevant for profit generation. They gave an example of an Android device very similar in stats to the iPad mini but at half the price. Low priced devices will drive margins down for everyone, just as it did with PCs.

We'll see what the future holds. I, for one, will likely not buy a laptop in the foreseeable future due to tablets, so I'm not sure what that means.

Lower margins don't mean death to tablets. Amazon has already proved that, because its biz model is different and it makes nothing or next to nothing on tablet hardware.

If the BB guy can't already see what exists, and the potential or necessity of evolving biz models, he's a joke.

 

[KevinJS]

Two iPad 2's and an iPod Nano for a cauliflower, I'm stocking up on iOS devices as I love cauliflower!

The Archangel

I don't like cauliflower, but I will trade for gummy bears!

Trade Cauliflowers for gummi bears? You two just made tablets irrelevant.

Sent from my stock iPad 2

 

[tazz3]

Whats a blackberry lol, this guy has no clue on what he is saying

 

[Spugnut]

Lower margins don't mean death to tablets. Amazon has already proved that, because its biz model is different and it makes nothing or next to nothing on tablet hardware.

If the BB guy can't already see what exists, and the potential or necessity of evolving biz models, he's a joke.

If he is so good in seeing the future, why is he working for Blackberry?

Sent from my iPad using iPF