BlackBerry CEO John Chen says company will 'think twice' about staying in hardware market if Android-powered Priv bombs

Can Android save BlackBerry? There's slim hope

BlackBerry CEO John Chen has admitted that the company's hardware division may be on its last warning with the upcoming Android-powered BlackBerry Priv, with the company more or less betting the farm on the change of operating system.

Speaking at the Code Mobile conference in California, Chen said that BlackBerry needs to start making a profit in hardware next year, or he'll need to start making some tough decisions about its future.

"Otherwise, I have to think twice about what I do there," said Chen, who added that a "business case" would need to be found for BlackBerry to continue making devices at all.

But Chen also seemed confident that switching to Android, starting with the launch of the Priv and even - if widely-reported rumours are correct - providing Android for older devices, such as the BlackBerry Passport, could be a very positive way forward: "Android in the enterprise is a very under-served space," said Chen.

"With our connections, our accounts, our security know-how, this has expanded our market. The market wants privacy and security, and they also want apps."

Chen said that the chief reason BlackBerry is still in the handset market, in fact, is because "there's added value [in BlackBerry's end-to-end mobile solution], and a market that is under-served".

While it may feel like the horse has long bolted for BlackBerry, as many UK High Street suppliers took BlackBerry 10 devices off the shelves way back in the summer 2014, Chen's point about Android is a good one: Computing recently put out a request for end-user companies who have built their mobile policies on the Android infrastructure, and have so far had absolutely no firms comfortable going on-the-record to say that they run their company on Android.

With Android now easily the most-used mobile device platform worldwide, Chen's viewpoint that Android is "under-served" couldn't be more true.

While a bevy of mobile-device management companies offer Android-based solutions in their portfolios, and Samsung even offers its own Knox solution built into devices, BlackBerry's spotless reputation for security still makes it a hugely tempting player for enterprise environments. There is nothing to say that backing up that promise with in-house devices wouldn't strengthen the appeal.

The company's recent acquisition of security rival Good Technology is also a positive step for BlackBerry.

But Microsoft also shouldn't be underestimated as a serious, upcoming enterprise possibility, especially with its new wave of Lumias that offer "desktop-like" functonality.

In devices, though, Chen will have to work hard to repair the damage done by previous CEO Thorsten Heins, who effectively left them with millions of overpriced, unsellable Z10 devices that they struggled to shift. Blackberry has been conspicuous by its absence from most mobile operators' mainstream line-ups every since.

Do you use Android as part of your enterprise mobility infrastructure? And does the prospect of BlackBerry-powered hardware attract or repel you? Or is it just another way of delaying the inevitable for the ailing Canadian phone maker? Let us know in the comments.