QNX

After all that, where did Lazaridis see the future?

He put all his chips on QNX, this operating system they bought in 2010.

What was special about QNX?

It was known for being incredibly stable, this self-healing tech used in nuclear plants, cars, really critical systems.

Lazaridis thought this was their chance to leapfrog Apple and Google technologically.

OK, a bold move.

The playbook tablet was supposed to be the first taste.

running QNX kind of a trial for the next phone, BlackBerry 10.

Jim, my question is about Blackberry.

With a billion-dollar QNX backlog, connected cars, robotics, medical radar, cybersecurity, increase in revenue streams in all our partnerships, the stock seems like a bargain to me.

Should I buy?

I agree with you.

I mean, not, not necessarily modern stuff, but it's like, I'm just scrolling through here.

Like if you want to see, uh, I've never even heard of a lot of these operating systems, like, like every, every very like CPM and all these like Unix works, like Unix variants on the big heavy workstations of the nineties and QNX.

Oh God.

Plan nine here.

I appreciate being here and looking forward to our discussion today.

Jim, how did you find QNX? And what led you into this path?

Really, QNX found me.

I had previously worked in this vertical market and this industry and had moved away and gone to another vertical industry around modeling and simulation.

QNX reached out, liked my background, and actually brought me on board back in September of 2015. and have been thrilled since I got here.

So I know QNX because, of course, I used to build, with ATS Automation, we used to build these high-accuracy placement systems.

But I'm going to ask you, for some of the guys who's walking their dog and they don't know about QNX, can you tell us a little bit about who QNX is?

So QNX is, obviously, we're in a very niche market.

And listen, I wanna be a supporter of BlackBerry, I think, but as you mentioned, Marella, it's finally showing that this turnaround has real substance, right? Um, and I think that is constructive.

The, I think, um, the asset we really like is the QNX.

Its software is already embedded in more than 275 million vehicles with roughly 950 million of future royalty backlog.

That's huge, and it's moving beyond cars into robotics and physical AI.

The financials are improving, too.

Both the QNX and Secure Communications are profitable.

Revenue grew 26% last quarter.

Cash generating, and it's moving meaningful in the right direction.

Yeah.

If it's not Android and Android is heavily based on Linux cars with QNX.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Its core business is, is not s- phones anymore.

Uh, its core business is, is a piece of software it calls QNX, which is a key software in cars.

It also has a big business in secure communications, for example, between governments.

So let's get into the conversation with the BlackBerry CEO about where this company is going and what it does now.

And while, you know, the products that, um, you know, we offer to our customers around the world can't necessarily be held in the palm of your hands like the old, old devices, those values of security, trust, and innovation still, you know, shine through in the software and services and the other, um, solutions that we deliver to the market today.

We really focus on three specific areas.

Um, and, uh, one is, is obviously QNX, and we'll, we'll talk more about that in terms of, you know, safety, embedded software industry, and how dynamic that is today from, uh, from cars to robots to, uh, advanced supply chain, uh, technologies.

Um, and that business is, you know, growing at a really healthy pace.