Demise of Tablet in 5 Years According To Blackberry CEO

Demise of Tablet in 5 Years Says Blackberry’s CEO

Tablet PC to Be Gone in Five Years Says Blackberry’s CEO

Say it ain’t so! The wildly popular and beloved tablet will be gone in five years? At least that’s what Thorsten Heins, CEO of Blackberry, thinks.

“In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore,” Heins said in an interview Monday at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles. “Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model.”

However, his opinion may not carry the same weight that it would have five years ago when Blackberry was the market leader of smart phones with a well ensconced niche in corporate America. Consider that only two years ago, Blackberry rolled out their first tablet offering “The Playbook” to dismal sales and poor product reviews.

The tablet did not offer anything new against stiff competition from Samsung and Google. The Playbook also failed to deliver on the standard feature of built-in e-mail.

Tech giant Microsoft launched their latest version of the Windows operating system known as “Windows 8” last year which is designed primarily to take advantage of mobile computing devices such as tablets. Nevertheless, Mr. Heins believes that along with the coming demise of the tablet PC, Blackberry will once again be the “absolute” leader in mobile computing.

The company launching their Blackberry 10 line of phones and is hoping for a substantial comeback in market share. However, with Google, Samsung, Apple, and Microsoft all offering successful product lines in tablet computing and Blackberry refusing to offer a successor to the failed “Playbook”, it’s hard to see how Blackberry can win over a new generation of users.

“In five years, I see BlackBerry to be the absolute leader in mobile computing — that’s what we’re aiming for,” Heins said. “I want to gain as much market share as I can, but not by being a copycat.”

Shares in BlackBerry have risen 35% in the year to date to $15.89.

On The Web:

BlackBerry CEO Questions Future of Tablets
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-30/blackberry-ceo-questions-future-of-tablets.html