War of words signals a changed BlackBerry
OTTAWA — In one of the more public illustrations of how things have changed at BlackBerry, John Chen, the company’s relatively new chief executive and executive chairman, engaged in some exceptional online sniping with his counterpart at T-Mobile US.
Because decisions made by wireless carriers can be so critical to the success of handsets — essentially helping pick winners and losers — BlackBerry, like the most phone makers, has long been careful to maintain and cultivate its relations with carriers.
Chen, who is best known for turning around database and mobile software maker Sybase, has a new approach, at least when it comes to T-Mobile. And given BlackBerry’s dismally low market share in the United States, he also has less to lose than his predecessors.
After T-Mobile began contacting its customers who use BlackBerrys with promotions for Apple’s iPhone, Chen attacked the move very publicly. In a blog post published Tuesday on BlackBerry’s website, Chen praised BlackBerry users who complained through social media and publicly about T-Mobile’s attempt to get them to change teams.
“Your partnership with our brand is appreciated by all of us at BlackBerry, and draws a sharp contrast with the behavior of our longtime business partner,” Chen wrote, referring to T-Mobile. “What puzzles me more is that T-Mobile did not speak with us be- fore or after they launched this clearly inappropriate and ill-conceived marketing promotion.”
Before getting in one further dig at the carrier, Chen promised that a deal for BlackBerry users with TMobile would be announced shortly.
“Finally, to T-Mobile, I would like to remind you that our longstanding partnership was once productive and profitable for both BlackBerry and T-Mobile,” he wrote. “I hope we can find a way forward that allows us to serve our shared customers once again.”
John Legere, chief executive at T-Mobile, has a reputation for being outspoken and a heavy user of Twitter. His Twitter profile uses a background featuring a silhouette of Batman against the skyline of Seattle.
On Wednesday, he turned to the social network to address Chen and BlackBerry, maintaining that Chen had mischaracterized T-Mobile’s offer as an attack on BlackBerry.
And Mike Sievert, chief marketing officer at T-Mobile, also joined in the fight, if in a more temperate way, when announcing through a blog post a special offer for BlackBerry users wanting to get another BlackBerry handset. He wrote the iPhone offer was simply a way of giving BlackBerry owners more options rather than an attack on their current brand.
“Wow. Mind blown. The passion we’ve seen from the BlackBerry Loyal over the past couple days has been pretty amazing. I want you to know we’ve heard you,” Sievert wrote.
“We simply have a different point of view on the matter of choice than the one expressed yesterday by Mr. Chen.”
By Thursday, Legere had moved onto promoting his network’s data capabilities on his Twitter account.
As for BlackBerry, it was basking in analysts’ reports that its BlackBerry Messenger instant messaging service might be worth more than previously thought because of the $16 billion Facebook is paying for WhatsApp, another messaging service.