BlackBerry Limited, formerly known as Research In Motion Limited (RIM),

[3][4]
is a Canadian
telecommunication and wireless equipment company best known to the general public as the developer of
the BlackBerry brand of smartphones and tablets, but also well known worldwide as a provider of secure &
high reliability software for industrial applications and Mobile Device Management (MDM). BlackBerry's
software and hardware products are used worldwide by various government's agencies and by car makers
and industrial plants throughout the world, much of this activity being unseen by the public. The company is
headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by Mike Lazaridis, who served as its co-CEO
along withJim Balsillie until January 22, 2012; as of November 2013, Saad assumes the new title of "Lead
Director and Chair of Compensation".
[5]
In November 2013, John S. Chen took over as CEO. His strategy is
to subcontract manufacturing to Foxconn, and to focus on software technology.
[6]

Originally a dominant innovative company in the smartphone market for business and government usage,
with 43% US market share in 2010, the company's dominance in the US smartphone market has in recent
years declined precipitously, in part because of intense competition mainly from the current high US market
share of Google's Android brands and also from the lower share that Apple's iPhone has of the market. Due
to such competition, the company's share in the US personal consumer market was reduced to 3.8% in
2013.
[7]
In markets other than the US personal comsumer market BlackBerry's products have fared better.
On September 23, 2013 the company signed a letter of intent to be acquired for US$4.7 billion, or US$9 per
share, by a consortium led by Fairfax Financial which has announced its intentions to take the company
private.
[8]
On November 4, 2013 the deal was scrapped in favor of a US$1 billion cash injection which,
according to one analyst, represented the level of confidence BlackBerry's largest shareholder has in the
company.
[9]
The majority of BlackBerry's remaining value lies in innovation, one aspect being its patent
portfolio, which has been valued at between US$2 billion and $3 billion.
[10]

Research In Motion Limited was founded in 1984 by Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin. At the time,
Lazaridis was an engineering student at the University of Waterloo while Fregin was an engineering student
at the University of Windsor.
[11]

RIM's early development was financed by Canadian institutional and venture capital investors in 1995
through a private placement in the privately held company. Working Ventures Canadian Fund Inc. led the
first venture round
[12]
with a C$5,000,000 investment with the proceeds being used to complete the
development of RIM's two-way paging system hardware and software. A total of C$30,000,000 in pre-IPO
financing was raised by the company prior to its initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange in
January 1998 under the symbol RIM.
[13]

The company worked with RAM Mobile Data and Ericsson to turn the Ericsson-developed Mobitex wireless
data network into a two-way paging and wireless e-mail network. Pivotal in this development was the
release of the Inter@ctive Pager 950, which started shipping in August 1998. About the size of a bar of soap,
this device competed against the SkyTel two-way paging network developed by Motorola.
In 1999, RIM introduced the BlackBerry 850 pager. Named in reference to the resemblance of its keyboard's
keys to the druplets of the blackberry fruit, the device could receive push email from a Microsoft Exchange
Server using its complementary server software, BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). The introduction of
the BlackBerry set the stage for future enterprise-oriented products from the company, such as the
BlackBerry 957 in April 2000, the first BlackBerry smartphone. The BlackBerry OS platform and BES
continued to increase in functionalitywhile the incorporation of encryption and S/MIME support helped
BlackBerry devices gain increased usage by governments and businesses.
[14][15]

BlackBerry Limited, formerly Research In Motion Limited, incorporated on March 7, 1984, is a designer,
manufacturer and marketer of wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through
the development of integrated hardware, software and services, it provides platforms and solutions for
seamless access to information, including e-mail, voice, instant messaging, short message service (SMS),
Internet and intranet-based applications and browsing. The Company's technology also enables an array of
third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services through software
development kits, wireless connectivity to data and third-party support programs. Its portfolio of products,
services and embedded technologies are used by thousands of organizations and millions of consumers
around the world and include the BlackBerry wireless solution, the RIM Wireless Handheld product line, the
BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, software development tools and other software and hardware. Effective May
31, 2013, BlackBerry Ltd acquired Scroon SA.
On March 25, 2011, the Company purchased 100% of the shares of a company whose technology is being
incorporated into the Companys developer tools. On April 26, 2011, the Company purchased certain assets
of a company whose acquired technologies will be incorporated into the Companys products. In June 2011,
the Company acquired Scoreloop. On March 8, 2012, the Company acquired Paratek Microwave Inc.
During the fiscal year ended March 3, 2012 (fiscal 2012), the Company purchased 100% interests of a
company, whose technology will be incorporated into its technology; whose technology offers cloud-based
services for storing, sharing, accessing and organizing digital content on mobile devices; whose technology
is being incorporated into an application on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet; whose technology offers a
customizable and cross-platform social mobile gaming developer tool kit, and whose technology will
provide a multi-platform BlackBerry Enterprise Solution for managing and securing mobile devices for
enterprises and government organizations.
On April 24, 2012, the Company launched BlackBerry 7 smartphone, the BlackBerry Curve 9220, for
customers in Indonesia. April 18, 2012, it launched BlackBerry 7 smartphone, the BlackBerry Curve 9220,
for customers in India. On April 17, 2012, it announced availability of the BlackBerry Bold 9790
smartphone in Spain. On April 3, 2012, it launched BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, and launched four
BlackBerry smartphones powered by the BlackBerry 7 operating system (OS) in Cambodia, which included
BlackBerry Bold 9900, BlackBerry Bold 9790, BlackBerry Curve 9360 and BlackBerry Curve 9380. On
April 2, 2012, it announced the availability of BlackBerry App World, the official application store for
BlackBerry smartphones in Brunei, and it announced availability of the BlackBerry Bold 9790 and
BlackBerry Curve 9380 smartphones for Cell C customers in South Africa. On March 27, 2012, it launched
of the BlackBerry solution in Benin Republic. On March 15, 2012, it launched of BlackBerry services in
China. On March 7, 2012, it launched the BlackBerry service in Angola.
The Company's primary revenue stream is generated by the BlackBerry wireless solution, consists of
smartphones and tablets, service and software. BlackBerry service is provided through a combination of its
global BlackBerry Infrastructure and the wireless networks of its carrier partners. On February 21, 2012, it
released the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 software. It generates hardware revenues from sales, primarily to
carriers and distributors. During fiscal 2012, the Company launched the wireless fidelity (WiFi)-enabled
BlackBerry PlayBook tablet in 44 markets around the world. On July 21, 2011, the BlackBerry PlayBook
tablet received Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2 certification.
BlackBerry Smartphones and Tablets
BlackBerry smartphones uses wireless, push-based technology that delivers data to mobile users business
and consumer applications. BlackBerry smartphones integrate messaging including instant messaging, email
and SMS; voice calling; Webkit browser; multimedia capabilities; calendar, and other applications. During
fiscal 2012, it introduced 10 new smartphones and launched software updates to both its smartphone and
tablet platforms. BlackBerry smartphones are available from hundreds of carriers and indirect channels,
through a range of distribution partners, and are designed to operate on a variety of carrier networks,
including HSPA/HSPA+/UMTS, GSM/GPRS/EDGE, CDMA/Ev-DO, and iDEN.
During fiscal 2012, its BlackBerry smartphone and tablet portfolio included BlackBerry Bold series,
BlackBerry Torch series, BlackBerry Curve series and The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Its BlackBerry
Bold series includes BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 and BlackBerry Bold 9790. The Companys
BlackBerry Torch series include BlackBerry Torch 9810 and All-Touch BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860.
The Company's BlackBerry Curve series include BlackBerry Curve 9350/9360/9370 and All-Touch
BlackBerry Curve 9380 Smartphone. The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet features the BlackBerry PlayBook
OS 2.0. The BlackBerry PlayBook offers a seven-inch high definition display, a dual core one gigahertz
processor, dual high definition cameras, multitasking and a Web browsing.
History of the PEST Analysis
written by: Sidharth Thakur edited by: Linda Richter updated: 12/30/2010
PEST analysis has been in use as an external environment scanning tool for more than three
decades. Still, there isnt much information on how this technique has evolved. Here is an article
that explores the history and evolution of this technique.
One of the popular environmental scanning tools used by businesses to analyze the macro-
environment in which they operate is the PEST analysis. History of this strategic planning tool is
somewhat imprecise; although it may have evolved earlier, the first traceable mention of this tool
goes back to 1967, by Francis Aguilar. Lets take a look at how this tool was introduced and how it
has evolved ever since 1967.
The First Trace of PEST Analysis
As mentioned earlier, it is Francis Aguilar who can be credited with the origin of this strategic
analytical technique. At that time, Aguilar talked about ETPS Economic, Technological, Political,
and Social environment -- as the four environments that must be scanned when looking for
analytical grounds to judge the strategic plans. Even in its current form, PEST revolves around
these same four factors; however the term PEST came in much later.
A few years later Arnold Brown emphasized these same four environmental factors with the only
difference that he labeled it as STEP. This acronym, in addition to referring to each of the four
environmental factors, stands for Strategic Trend Evaluation Process as well.
There is no clear evidence about when PEST emerged from STEP or ETPS, but as of today the
commonly used name for this external environment scanning technique is PEST. Apart from
PEST, analysis history shows it is also popular in its extended form as PESTLE.

PEST analysis ('Political, Economic, Social and Technological analysis''') describes a framework of
macro-environmental factors used in the environmental scanning component of strategic management. Some
analysts added Legal and rearranged the mnemonic to SLEPT; inserting Environmental factors expanded
it to PESTEL or PESTLE, which is popular in the United Kingdom.
[1]
The model has recently been further
extended to STEEPLE and STEEPLED, adding Ethics and Demographic factors. It is a part of the
external analysis when conducting a strategic analysis or doing market research, and gives an overview of
the different macro-environmental factors that the company has to take into consideration. It is a useful
strategic tool for understanding market growth or decline, business position, potential and direction for
operations. The growing importance of environmental or ecological factors in the first decade of the 21st
century have given rise to green business and encouraged widespread use of an updated version of the PEST
framework. STEER analysis systematically considers Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological,
and Regulatory factors.
Political factors are basically to what degree the government intervenes in the economy.
Specifically, political factors include areas such as tax policy, labor law, environmental law, trade
restrictions, tariffs, and political stability. Political factors may also include goods and services which
the government wants to provide or be provided (merit goods) and those that the government does
not want to be provided (demerit goods or merit bads). Furthermore, governments have great
influence on the health, education, and infrastructure of a nation.
Political
Government stability and likely changes
Bureaucracy
Corruption level
Tax policy (rates and incentives)
Freedom of press
Regulation/de-regulation
Trade control
Import restrictions (quality and quantity)
Tariffs
Competition regulation
Government involvement in trade unions and agreements
Environmental Law
Education Law
Anti-trust law
Discrimination law
Copyright, patents / Intellectual property law
Consumer protection and e-commerce
Employment law
Health and safety law
Data protection law
Laws regulating environment pollution

Economic factors include economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and the inflation rate.
These factors have major impacts on how businesses operate and make decisions. For example,
interest rates affect a firm's cost of capital and therefore to what extent a business grows and
expands. Exchange rates affect the costs of exporting goods and the supply and price of imported
goods in an economy.
Economic
Growth rates
Inflation rate
Interest rates
Exchange rates
Unemployment trends
Labor costs
Stage of business cycle
Credit availability
Trade flows and patterns
Level of consumers disposable income
Monetary policies
Fiscal policies
Price fluctuations
Stock market trends
Weather
Climate change

Social factors include the cultural aspects and include health consciousness, population growth rate,
age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. Trends in social factors affect the demand
for a company's products and how that company operates. For example, an aging population may
imply a smaller and less-willing workforce (thus increasing the cost of labor). Furthermore,
companies may change various management strategies to adapt to these social trends (such as
recruiting older workers).
Socio-cultural
Health consciousness
Education level
Attitudes toward imported goods and services
Attitudes toward work, leisure, career and retirement
Attitudes toward product quality and customer service
Attitudes toward saving and investing
Emphasis on safety
Lifestyles
Buying habits
Religion and beliefs
Attitudes toward green or ecological products
Attitudes toward and support for renewable energy
Population growth rate
Immigration and emigration rates
Age distribution and life expectancy rates
Sex distribution
Average disposable income level
Social classes
Family size and structure
Minorities

Technological factors include technological aspects such as R&D activity, automation, technology
incentives and the rate of technological change. They can determine barriers to entry, minimum
efficient production level and influence outsourcing decisions. Furthermore, technological shifts can
affect costs, quality, and lead to innovation.
Technological
Basic infrastructure level
Rate of technological change
Spending on research & development
Technology incentives
Legislation regarding technology
Technology level in your industry
Communication infrastructure
Access to newest technology
Internet infrastructure and penetration




The impact of external environment on Blackberry Company