BlackBerry was as soon as on the high of the smartphone market within the U.S. In 2010, nearly half of smartphone subscribers within the U.S. used BlackBerrys, in response to Comscore. 

The telephones had been well-known for having a tactile keyboard and for BlackBerry’s superior cybersecurity — usually favored amongst companies and governments.

However after its telephones fell out of favor with customers, BlackBerry altered its course, taking among the cornerstones of the enterprise with it.

“After a couple of years, we realized that we’d by no means get the amount up — and it is a quantity sport,” mentioned John Chen, CEO of BlackBerry. “And so we made that pivotal shift to a software-only firm and give attention to safety and cyber and issues of that kind.”

Whereas it stopped manufacturing telephones, it did not go removed from the business.

“At the moment, BlackBerry has two foremost enterprise items, a cybersecurity enterprise unit and an IoT enterprise unit inside the cybersecurity enterprise unit,” mentioned Charles Eagen, chief know-how officer of BlackBerry.

Its cybersecurity unit focuses on securing issues similar to smartphone functions and cell banking web sites. Its web of issues unit focuses on the communication of know-how inside linked and autonomous vehicles.

“We now have the lion’s share of embedded software program in a lot of the vehicles,” Chen mentioned.

BlackBerry’s know-how is in roughly 215 million vehicles and this aspect of BlackBerry is continuous to develop, in response to the corporate.

“If we have a look at the business alternative itself, it is our expectation that the auto software program business goes to roughly triple in measurement from 2020 via 2030,” mentioned Luke Junk, senior analyst at Baird.

Nonetheless, BlackBerry does face competitors within the cybersecurity business, and in 2021 its income from cybersecurity was $500 million.

“I believe that the corporate can attain doubtless a decrease peak than we have seen previously however a extra sustainable development trajectory and probably extra worthwhile future as nicely on a margin share foundation,” Junk mentioned.

CNBC visited BlackBerry’s Autonomous Car Innovation Middle and interviewed Chen to seek out out what’s subsequent for the corporate.

Watch the video to be taught extra.