Written off by consumers as a dying cell phone brand in the wake of Apple’s iPhone and Samsung, BlackBerry Limited has actually performed surprisingly well on the stock market.
TechCrunch reports that BlackBerry’s stock (NASDAQ: BBRY) is up 50 percent this year. It started the year at $7.44 a share and it closed yesterday at $11.21.
BlackBerry is performing better than both Apple and Google, which are only up 20 percent and 5 percent on the year respectively.
Why is the close-to-dead cell phone brand performing so well on the stock market?
The Motley Fool reported that a few reasons for BlackBerry’s recent success is that it has been “slashing costs and not making waves” while also making improvements to its operating system and most successful mobile applications.
A further reason for the company’s success may include its new CEO, John Chen, who replaced Thorsten Heins in November 2013. With Chen, the company has found its niche in the mobile market and succeeded.
Will it be possible for BlackBerry to make a complete comeback and start to sell more phones than Apple and Samsung?
Yahoo’s Michael Santoli said that he believes that BlackBerry can continue its recent success, however, it will not be able to reach the success that it once had in the early 2000s. The company needs to continue its success within a very small market. “BlackBerry is a very niche smartphone maker, continuing to sell to business and government clients. One of those niche markets is people who want a physical keyboard.”