John Sculley, a former CEO at Apple, is considering making a bid for struggling mobile brand BlackBerry. If he makes the bid, he will be up against some stiff competition, including Prem Watsa of Fairfax Holdings LTD, and BlackBerry co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin.
BlackBerry has made many questionable choices over the last couple of years (does anyone remember them making singer Alicia Keys a “partner” a couple years back?), and the brand has suffered for it. Unable to keep up with the advances made by others like the iPhone and Android, selling seems to be the only option. Though the company has been coy in confirming that a buyout is more than just one option.
Now actual interest is being shown from several people who want to turn BlackBerry – already established as a brand – around. John Sculley is one of those potential buyers, though no bid has been officially made.
“The only thing I would say is, I think there’s a lot of future value in Blackberry,” Sculley said when asked about his interest.
“But without experienced people who have run this type of business, and without a strategic plan, it would be really challenging. Whoever buys it would have to have a strategic plan that was credible and could succeed, and they would want to have an experienced team that would be able to implement that plan.”
Despite being one of the most generic possible responses he could have given, it was a bit telling. Sculley is known for two things, running Pepsi, and being a member of the executive team for Apple. During his time with the tech giant, he butted heads repeatedly with Steve Jobs. In fact, he is believed to have been responsible for the firing, and then later rehiring, of Jobs.
His tenure at Apple was fraught with controversy. Originally leading to a huge growth during its days as a computer brand, his success began to wane. That was when Jobs returned and introduced the iPod, and then the iPhone. We all know what happened from there.
While Sculley will be able to ride on his experience with Apple, the truth is that he has little to no experience with mobile technology. That just wasn’t his area, and it is hard to say why he might feel compelled to try and save BlackBerry now. But maybe he will surprise us all…he was responsible for the Pepsi Challenge, after all, so at least he knows his marketing.
Source: Huff Post
