BlackBerry Says It Isn't Dead

BlackBerry says it is "very much alive," and that "reports of our death are greatly exaggerated," in an open letter by BlackBerry to enterprise customers. 

It's an odd statement, in some ways, but seems to validate thinking in many quarters that BlackBerry will pin its future hopes on remaining an enterprise-oriented mobile communications services company, and not a consumer devices company.

Interim BlackBerry Ltd. chief executive John Chen issued the open letter in an apparent attempt to reassure enterprise customers about the firm's commitment to remain a viable provider of range of services for large organizations, including the managing and securing of multiple devices using the BlackBerry Enterprise Service.

In the letter, Mr. Chen says that some consumers are hearing from companies that sell MDM (mobile device management) software that BlackBerry’s BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Service) might not be supported, a typical competitive tactic in such cases.