BlackBerry CEO Heins says in five years, tablets will be dead

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins said in an interview at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles on Monday, that tablets will no longer be needed in 5 years. Despite this comment, Heins is currently mulling over the idea of building a new tablet to replace the aging BlackBerry PlayBook. The odds are against this happening as the executive added that tablets are not a good business model. He believes that soon, tablets will be replaced by a giant screen in the workplace.


The comments come as speculation arises that during the BlackBerry Live conference scheduled for next month in Orlando, Heins will announce his final decision on whether or not to produce a new slate. The current BlackBerry tablet runs the QNX OS which is the predecessor to BlackBerry 10. The BlackBerry PlayBook was a mess when launched as it shipped without an email client, and a calendar. But that was a mistake made by past management and the CEO is clearly looking ahead. He sees BlackBerry being the leader in mobile computing in five years.

In another matter, one that we have followed closely, Heins discussed the April 12th announcement by the company, asking securities regulators to investigate reports from Northeastern investment house Detwiller, Fenton. The latter reported that the return rate for the all-touch BlackBerry Z10 was exceeding sales. As we have pointed out on occasion, the investment house has been bearish on BlackBerry 10 dating back to before the introduction of the software last January. "Whatever the motivation is, you have to use the right facts, and that’s what we’re challenging right now,” Heins said, adding that Z10 returns are in line with the industry, and better than previous BlackBerry launches. Heins wants the regulators to investigate whether or not Detwiller Fenton was trying to manipulate BlackBerry's stock with its comments.

source: Bloomberg