BlackBerry’s CES Showcase Impressed, but Our Thesis Is Unchanged

We came away from the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, impressed with BlackBerry’s Internet of Things portfolio, but saw nothing to change our long-term thesis on the firm. In short, we believe BlackBerry’s Internet of Things business is strong, but meaningful monetization appears far off, and we think the cybersecurity business is poorly positioned and set up for below-market growth. At BlackBerry’s booth, we saw demos of its IVY software with multiple software partners, as well as use cases for its QNX software. Its expanded relationship with Amazon Web Services, or AWS, for its cloud-delivered software is positive for the firm, in our view.