Blackberry’s High Stakes Poker Game

BlackBerry has been in some turmoil lately. Metaphorically speaking, BlackBerry has engaged in a dangerous game with the other players in the Smartphone market. The high stakes poker game of sorts that is taking place in the market right now is turning highly crucial for BlackBerry. The river move has put BlackBerry in a do-or-die position. The world is waiting to see how BlackBerry plays this hand. Fold, lose or simply go all-in, so to speak.

BlackBerry has chosen to actually go all-in with this hand. The amount of tension on this one is too high. The stakes are too high for BlackBerry. Unlike the rest of the players at the table, BlackBerry cannot afford to lose this hand, not anymore. The million dollar question that arises now - Is BlackBerry bluffing? A veteran of so many such games, BlackBerry sits expressionless and unflinching at the table. Does BlackBerry have an ace in the hole that no one knows about?

Yes, they do. BlackBerry has an ace in the hole, so to speak. QNX.

QNX, BlackBerry’s supposed secret weapon seems to be something more than it actually appears. BlackBerry’s recent moves in the market seem to suggest so. BlackBerry’s recently acquired ‘NantHealth’ that provides end-to-end integrated healthcare solutions. Mike Lazaridis, the man behind the QNX acquisition, has often expressed his interest in the field of healthcare equipments and commercializing healthcare equipment technology, like the Medical Tricorder. Post his resignation from the RIM top job, Mike has tried to buy back BlackBerry way back in October.

Although the deal never went through, it leaves some questions open for speculation. What may have prompted Mike’s change of heart, we cannot be absolutely certain about. However, it is fairly apparent that the healthcare industry and QNX hold the key to BlackBerry’s future. QNX is embedded in a majority of the hospital equipment around the world. Network connected hospital equipment was reportedly prone to rampant malware attacks. The trillion dollar a year medical industry cannot afford such setbacks.

What the medical industry needs at this stage is safety, security and reliability of their communication systems. These very same attributes have been at the core of BlackBerry’s working since their inception. The QNX framework can easily be embedded and modified to suit the needs of individual users. QNX supports a variety of technologies in the open-source platform; this makes it highly suitable for developers. Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth too are supported by the QNX framework. BlackBerry’s proposed QNX Cloud platform may turn out to be the silver lining for their embedded technologies in the future.

The step into the commercial healthcare industry may prove to be a welcome move for BlackBerry. NantHealth have recently confirmed that currently they are working in collaboration with BlackBerry on a smartphone tailor-made for the healthcare industry professionals. The major advantage that Blackberry holds over its competitors is that there isn’t a lot of competition in this budding sector. Apple and Android would be hard-pressed to enter this market as they are likely to be hindered by the FDA’s demand for security and reliability. BlackBerry’s last move in all likelihood is going to be a brilliant one that trumps the competition. This is definitely no bluff here.