BlackBerry bets on software for cars and robotics
BlackBerry is focusing on mission-critical software for cars, secure communications and robotics after losing the competition in the consumer smartphone market. The company’s shares have doubled since the start of the year, although they remain significantly below their 2008 peak.
Two main areas
As CNBC Top News reports, BlackBerry’s revenue is primarily generated by two businesses. The first sells encrypted and secure communications products, including to government clients. The second area is QNX, which sells operating systems and other embedded software for cars.
QNX software products are used in systems related to braking, as well as in certain semi-autonomous driving functions. According to BlackBerry, QNX is integrated into 275 million vehicles.
Robotics and physical AI
BlackBerry CEO John Giamatteo considers QNX important for the development of physical artificial intelligence, a field that includes autonomous cars and robots. In his view, software developed for vehicles with high safety standards can also be used in robotics.
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This primarily concerns robots for industry, manufacturing and medicine, rather than humanoid models. According to Giamatteo, robotics is one of the fastest-growing areas in the QNX portfolio.
QNX orders
BlackBerry is already generating revenue from the robotics segment. The QNX order backlog stands at $950 million, and part of this amount comes from robotics. At the same time, the company did not disclose the specific volume of such orders.
BlackBerry was previously one of the world’s largest phone manufacturers, and its BlackBerry Messenger service was popular in the early smartphone era. After the iPhone was launched in 2007, the company tried to retain its consumer mobile devices division but ultimately lost the competition in that market.
