Blackberry - Comeback Phone

BlackBerry was the king of smartphones in the early 2000s, dominating the market with its sleek designs and unmistakable physical keyboards. Known for their powerful email capabilities, these devices quickly became a favourite among business professionals and tech lovers alike, symbolizing productivity and style. 

Fast forward just a decade and the brand that once ruled the mobile world seemed to fade into anonymity. What could have possibly happened to this once-beloved icon? Here is the story of BlackBerry's rise and fall in the competitive smartphone industry!

BlackBerry - Founded in 1984 by Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin, BlackBerry initially operated as Research In Motion (RIM). The company made waves in 1999 with the launch of the BlackBerry 850, a device that combined wireless email with mobile communication—a groundbreaking concept at the time. BlackBerry's ability to provide secure, real-time email access revolutionized business communication, making BlackBerry devices a must-have for corporate executives and tech-savvy individuals. 

By the mid-2000s, BlackBerry had firmly established itself as the dominant player in the smartphone market, with a substantial market share. The devices were seen as status symbols, and their popularity skyrocketed, especially among professionals who relied on their email on the go. BlackBerry’s innovative features, such as push email and secure messaging, further entrenched its place in the business world. 

iPhone - crushed the smartphone market The release of Apple's iPhone in 2007 marked a significant shift in the smartphone landscape. Steve Jobs's iPhone had a very user-friendly design and the App Store's vast ecosystem captured consumers' attention, ultimately changing their expectations for mobile devices. As smartphones evolved, consumers began gravitating toward devices with larger screens, touch interfaces, and a broader range of applications. 

However, BlackBerry struggled to adapt to these changes. The company continued to focus on its traditional business model, emphasising security and email capabilities, while neglecting the growing demand for multimedia functions and apps. Their attempts to introduce touch-screen devices were met with mixed reviews, and BlackBerry's lack of a robust app ecosystem meant it could not compete with Apple and Android. 

Why Blackberry lost the smartphone race As the competition heated up, BlackBerry’s market share began to dwindle. By 2013, its share had dropped to just 5.9% according to Comscore. Even so, the company tried various strategies to regain its footing, including partnerships with software developers and attempts to modernize its operating system. However, all of these efforts fell short, and BlackBerry continued to lose ground to its rivals. 

In a desperate move, BlackBerry shifted its focus to software and security solutions, effectively pivoting from hardware to services. This transition marked a significant departure from its original identity as a smartphone manufacturer, leading many to wonder if the brand would ever return to its former glory.

Ignoring Competition - BlackBerry's story involves a perfect storm of fierce competition, a struggle to keep up with changing consumer preferences, and a bold pivot towards software solutions. While the brand may no longer dominate the smartphone landscape, its influence on mobile communication and cybersecurity is undeniable. BlackBerry's journey serves as a cautionary tale for tech companies: in an industry defined by rapid change, staying relevant requires constant innovation and a willingness to evolve. As we reflect on the rise and fall of BlackBerry, we are reminded that even the most iconic brands can fade away if they fail to keep pace with the changing tides of technology!

Poorly Timed Acquisitions

Companies that spent billions on poorly timed acquisitions in recent years are now offloading those assets at knockdown prices. Overpayment was the inevitable byproduct of an era when competition for assets was fierce. 

Years of zero interest rates and pandemic-fuelled deal hysteria sent valuations soaring in hype sectors, often detached from fundamentals. Now, as the zeitgeist demands a sober look in the mirror, companies are trimming excess, dumping underperformers, and opting for brutal honesty over sunk-cost fantasy — even if it means a multibillion-dollar haircut.

Intime - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd announced on Tuesday it’s going to sell Chinese department-store chain Intime to a local apparel group for US$1 billion (RM4.47 billion). The price is around 30% of the company’s valuation when Alibaba bought it during the heady days of 2017. The internet giant, which has largely abandoned its acquisitive ways amid government pressure, said it will book a US$1.3 billion loss on the transaction.

Cyclance - The deal came a day after BlackBerry Ltd said it would divest its Cylance endpoint security unit to software startup Arctic Wolf for US$160 million plus a small amount of stock. That’s a far cry from the US$1.4 billion BlackBerry paid when it agreed to buy the business in 2018. Under BlackBerry’s ownership, Cylance reported substantial losses and its revenue fell over 50%.

Grubhub - The moves show how companies that were major acquirers during the boom times may sober up and regret those purchases only a few years later. Just last month, Just Eat Takeaway.com NV agreed to sell US food delivery service Grubhub for US$650 million, a roughly 90% discount to the price it paid to buy the business at the height. 

companies didn’t properly assess synergies and the expected benefits of some deals were overestimated. Now may be a good time to find buyers for these assets as the merger and acquisition (M&A) market has become active again. Overall M&A volumes have risen 16% this year to US$3.2 trillion. 

These divestments allow the companies to focus on shoring up their main operations at a pivotal time. Alibaba has been working to reignite growth in its Chinese e-commerce division, where it faces fierce competition from PDD Holdings Inc and ByteDance Ltd. Meanwhile, BlackBerry is trying to turn around the company by devoting more attention to its Internet of Things business as well as its secure communications platforms.

Reopening The Gates - Just Eat Takeaway claimed that the market has changed since it bought Grubhub, with competition increasing and sector valuations falling. The sale to Wonder Group Inc represents the “most attractive outcome” and “reflects the current trajectory of the business.

BlackBerry said it’s “incredibly pleased” with the outcome for Cylance, which will help profitability and let it focus on the growth engines in its portfolio.

Companies will continue to pursue divestments of acquisitions that didn’t work out, as markets are rewarding focus and punishing bloated firms. That could provide good opportunities for cash-rich corporate buyers looking for bargains.

Bank Negara Malaysia Intervene Premium Hike

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has unveiled interim measures to help policyholders cope with premium revisions of their medical and health insurance/takaful (MHIT) products, as healthcare costs in Malaysia continue to surge.

The measures, announced today in collaboration with the insurance and takaful industry, come as Malaysia’s medical cost inflation hits 15 per cent in 2024, exceeding both global and Asia Pacific averages of 10 per cent.

BNM Intervention - emphasized the need to address root causes of rising premiums, driven by higher medical costs and increased utilisation of medical services. These interim measures will provide some temporary support to policyholders, but broader health reforms must be expedited.

Under the new measures, insurers and takaful operators (ITOs) will spread premium changes due to medical claims inflation over at least three years for affected policyholders until end-2026.

This is expected to result in yearly premium adjustments of less than 10 per cent for at least 80 per cent of policyholders. For policyholders aged 60 and above with minimum plan coverage, premium adjustments due to medical claims inflation will be paused for one year from their policy anniversary. However, premium increases due to age band changes will be managed separately by ITOs.

The central bank also announced that policyholders who surrendered or whose policies lapsed in 2024 due to repricing can request reinstatement based on adjusted premiums without additional underwriting requirements.

Additionally, ITOs must provide alternative MHIT products at the same or lower premiums for policyholders who wish to switch from their repriced plans. Companies that don’t currently offer such alternatives must make them available by end-2025, with no additional underwriting or switching costs.

Health Insurance Price Hike - Paused

The Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM), the Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA) and Persatuan Insurans Am Malaysia (PIAM) today announced interim measures to support policyholders and participants impacted by the recent premium and contribution repricing.

In a joint statement, the associations said these measures aim to ease the financial burden on policyholders and participants so that they can continue to be covered by medical and health insurance or takaful (MHIT).

Earlier today, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) announced interim measures to help manage the impact of MHIT premium adjustments, with insurers and takaful operators (ITOs) to spread out the changes in premiums over a minimum of three years for all policyholders affected by the repricing.

Interim & Temporary Measure - According to the joint statement, the interim measures include spreading out future premiums and contribution increases arising from repricing due to medical claims inflation. In addition, it will implement a one-year temporary pause in premium and contribution adjustment arising from medical claims inflation for those aged 60 and above who are covered under the minimum plan within the MHIT products they purchased.

Reinstatement & Alternative - Policyholders or participants who have surrendered or lapsed their policies or certificates due to medical repricing in 2024 will be eligible for reinstatement without additional underwriting requirements. To supplement the interim measures, ITOs will offer appropriate alternative MHIT products at the same or lower premiums for policyholders who do not wish to continue their existing MHIT plans that have been repriced.

Leadership For Success

Here are four human leadership practices you can bank on next year or 10 years from now.

Set your people up for success
Many individuals in management roles often prioritize their own performance over the unique needs of their team members. Success as a leader or manager is not determined by personal achievements but rather by the success of the team as a whole. This leadership style focuses on empowering individuals to excel and fostering an environment where everyone can succeed together.

Invert the pyramid
The concept of servant leadership, which involves flipping the traditional top-down hierarchy, is practiced by some of the largest and most profitable companies worldwide. In a classic organizational structure, the hierarchy resembles a triangle with the CEO at the top, followed by various levels of management beneath. At the top of the inverted triangle are the customers, as serving them is the primary purpose of the company. The customer-facing employees are prioritized and positioned right below the customer, higher in the organization than the CEO. This is the strength of the inverted pyramid. This model works effectively because employees are the ones who interact with customers on a daily basis, so they should be the ones at the top of the list.

Acknowledge your people for their personal accomplishments
As a leader, you may have bought into the idea that praising people for going above and beyond is a good thing for business. It is, and in fact, research confirms this. But try going a step further. Recognize your people not only for their business accomplishments but also for their milestones outside of work, such as birthdays, awards, and family celebrations.

Grow your people
The best companies of those I have tracked for nearly a decade have consistently stood apart for their efforts to help employees reach their full potential. This trend is still true today as technology continues to advance. Development opportunities aren’t limited to high-potential employees. At the best companies, employees across roles have access to real-time feedback and growth opportunities, enabling them to reach their potential and become even more effective at their jobs.

Australia Health Phoenixing

Private health insurers have been warned they will be named and shamed unless the industry cleans up its act and stops using secretive, "underhanded" tactics to increase premium prices.
The Commonwealth ombudsman has found insurers are frequently engaging in so-called phoenixing - a loophole-exploiting practice of ending a product, only to replace it with a near-identical service with a much higher price not long after.

Phoenixed - In one case, an insurance premium increased by 21 per cent in the space of a year after it had been phoenixed. If two members of the same fund with essentially the same product are paying prices that might be 20 or more per cent different because of this phoenixing practice, you'd have to describe that as price gouging.

The ombudsman investigation came after consumer group Choice first reported on the practice in February and found some insurers had increased prices by up to 47 per cent over three years. Any private health insurance price increases must be approved by the minister, and while phoenixing isn't illegal, Butler said it was "clearly against the spirit of the law".

It is an underhanded, largely secret way of health insurers raising their prices outside of the usual approval process. The practice was widespread across the entire industry, particularly in relation to "gold" products, which was the only option Australians had to access products like maternity and major surgery cover.

The government would change the law to make phoenixing illegal, and name and shame insurers, unless the industry stopped the practice. The warning comes after Australia's 29 private health insurers submitted their price increase proposals for next year in November.

Kodak Fatal Mistake

The name "Kodak" may not mean much to you today, but it was once synonymous with photography. It then became synonymous with the company that "killed itself," offering a painful lesson to any business that goes out of business due to its own mistakes.

Fatal Mistake - It was the company's decision not to invest in the field of digital photography, even though it was technologically advanced and could have given it an edge over the competition, but this became one of the biggest business mistakes in history. A big mistake followed by several smaller ones.

It was this company that made the first automatic camera in the early 20th century, making photography a hobby for many people instead of a professional activity. It even managed to get women into the photography "game", introducing. The "Kodak Girls" were dynamic and independent, but of course they were also good wives and mothers.

Even in times when marketing was not as sophisticated as it is today, Kodak had managed to convince consumers that it was the ideal company, that is, the only one that could capture their memories. The “Kodak moment” was synonymous with family happiness.

$30 Billion Giant - By the mid-1970s, the company was worth more than $30 billion, the largest in the photography industry. It had a near-monopoly on the worldwide sale of film and cameras. They made up to $15 on each roll of film, a sum of money that no one could afford to throw away.

On the business side, everything seemed to be going well for the company. In 1975, Steve Sasson, an engineer working for the company, invented a camera that didn’t need film. The image was recorded digitally, but of poor quality. The machine was clumsy and heavy, but it was clear that it had a future.

“Okay, but don’t say it anywhere,” was more or less the company’s response to Sassoon’s invention. The problem with his invention was that it directly threatened Kodak’s business model. For many years, the company continued to display an idiosyncratic denial about the prospects of digital photography.

This remained the case even when, in the early 1980s, Sony, one of its competitors, released a filmless camera. Kodak then requested an internal investigation into the industry's prospects and whether the classic model was in danger. The investigation showed that digital had the potential to replace film, but Kodak had a decade to prepare for the change. Ultimately, despite having a long lead, Kodak did almost nothing to take advantage of it.

Instead, the company tried to use digital to support film. In the mid-1990s, it went so far as to invent a hybrid of digital and analog cameras. The photos had to be printed in a lab, so as not to lose film sales. Naturally, the venture failed.

Digital Advance - Kodak executives in the 1980s and 1990s were extremely reluctant to consider replacing film with digital. As has been analyzed many times in marketing theory, they failed to find where digital “fit” into their operating model. Again, they did not get into the mindset to pioneer digital film as well.

They thought consumers would never part with the ritual of developing film and that the digital camera eliminated that need. Along the way, the quality of digital surpassed that of analog film, not to mention how cell phones became incredible cameras as well.

As digital cameras became devices, they were sold wherever you could find electronics, not just in the photography line that Kodak controlled. Gradually, the company lost its “field” and was forced to play in what its competitors had shaped.

But it also lost another audience it had built up over the years, women. The main users of digital photography were now men who had (and still have) a less developed logic than those who record beautiful family moments.

In 2007, Kodak was worth $140 million, as a small shop in the photography industry, so its bankruptcy in 2012 was the culmination of a predetermined course.

If anything can save classic film, it's only fashion that comes and goes. A little perspective, a little curiosity, and perhaps a little "hipsterism" and a romantic return to the old days, the demand for film and classic cameras (even second-hand ones) has started to grow in recent years.