During a Code Conference talk in Southern California today, BlackBerry CEO John Chen said he gives himself an 80% chance of saving the company.
“I’m quite confident that we can save the patient” he told attendees at the tech-centric Code Conference in southern California.
If BlackBerry has to ditch the handset business, and survive on its software and patents, the company can do so, he said. although he did reaffirm BlackBerry’s commitment to its phone operations,
“I will be able to create a lot of value for our shareholder even without handset business, but I can create more with the handset business,” Chen said.
BlackBerry’s CEO also reemphasized the need to go back to its enterprise roots in order to once again be successful, while also making products for specialized markets where security is valued, like healthcare and government.
He said the company will be coming out with a device designed to appeal to carriers, though he declined to give more details.
When asked whether he was the most qualified person to run the company, he responded:
“Am I the most qualified? No, I’m the only one they could find.”
Interestingly, he declined to comment when asked if BlackBerry would be making Android phones.
BlackBerry shares are up 1.4% after hours after Chen’s talk.
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