Pfizer Ditching BlackBerry, Citing Its ‘Volatile’ State
Pfizer Inc. (PFE), the world's biggest drugmaker, will wean off of BlackBerry (BBRY) Ltd.'s phones, citing concerns that the mobile technology company might not be around in the future or may have service interrupted.
Context & Ripple Effects
Pfizer's exit is the highest-profile corporate defection since US federal agencies began ditching BlackBerrys in early 2012, and it lands at the worst possible moment for the device maker: weeks after BlackBerry confirmed plans to lay off 40% of its global workforce and after the departure of key BlackBerry 10 designers from its acquired studio The Astonishing Tribe.
The timing stings because BlackBerry is actively fighting for relevance the same week — launching the Z30 on Verizon at $200 on-contract and shipping BBM updates for Android and iPhone that reviewers have already called outdated-looking and thin on features. The syndication footprint here is unusually wide for an enterprise-procurement story, with eight outlets from AllThingsD to eWeek picking it up, reflecting how much symbolic weight a regulated-industry customer's vote of no confidence carries.
First-order effects
- Pfizer's IT organization must run a phased migration off BlackBerry devices across the world's biggest drugmaker, shifting procurement toward rival mobile platforms and forcing a re-evaluation of every service tied to BlackBerry's infrastructure.
- BlackBerry loses a marquee regulated-enterprise reference customer whose stated reason — fear the company may not survive or may face service interruptions — validates the exact survival concerns raised by the October layoff plan.
Second-order effects
- Other security-conscious enterprises in healthcare, finance, and government now have cover to revisit BlackBerry commitments made when it was the default corporate handset, accelerating evaluation cycles that were already drifting toward iOS and Android.
- Rival platform vendors gain sales leverage in enterprise accounts without spending a dollar of marketing: a buyer citing vendor-viability risk does the competitive pitch for them.
Third-order effects
- If defections compound, the enterprise smartphone market consolidates around the iOS and Android ecosystems, pressuring BlackBerry to pivot its value proposition from devices toward services and software to remain relevant to customers like Pfizer.
- Vendor-viability risk becomes a standing line item in enterprise mobile procurement — buyers increasingly weigh a supplier's balance sheet alongside its security certifications when choosing platforms employees will depend on for years.
The trend: Enterprise mobility is consolidating around the iOS-Android duopoly as high-stakes buyers shift from evaluating handsets on features to weighing whether the vendor behind them will still exist over the life of their fleet.