Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) Changes the Game for BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) or Vice Versa?
Paul Leroux at QNX through N4BB confirmed that Apple Inc's CarPlay is running on BlackBerry's QNX platform.
"Connectivity to smartphones and other mobile devices is a key strength of QNX Software Systems' platform for car infotainment systems, and many automakers and tier one automotive suppliers use our platform to implement smartphone/head-unit integration in their vehicles. We have a long-standing partnership with Apple to ensure high-quality connectivity with their devices, and this partnership extends to support for Apple CarPlay," Leroux told Atkins.
Apple Inc.'s CarPlay will be available on selected cars across markets in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Also, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo will premiere CarPlay to their drivers this week at the Geneva Motor Show from March 6 to 16. Other big names in the car industry will also be bringing CarPlay to their drivers - BMW Group, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai Motor Company, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia Motors, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan Motor Company, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota Motor Corp.
With this, BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) stock, specifically the QNX department, can be enhanced by Apple Inc's CarPlay.
Or is it the other way around as QNX had always boosted BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) stock price?
In a December 2013 blog for CNBC, John Chen, executive chair and CEO of BlackBerry, already spoke of QNX as the technology that has the most possibility for market growth.
"QNX has always been one of our most exciting technologies and it is poised for further growth. Already the dominant machine-to-machine technology of the automotive industry, new capabilities and cloud services are being unveiled at CES in January, and we're looking toward adjacent verticals for expansion," Mr Chen wrote.
Also, there were reports that Ford would be dropping Microsoft Windows for its automotive infotainment and would be adopting BlackBerry's QNX.
In a report from Lawrence Lewitinn of Talking Numbers, some analysts had already bet on BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) QNX way before the launch of Apple Inc.'s CarPlay.
"QNX has about 50% to 70% of the [automotive connectivity] market. With more and more car companies dropping Windows, that basically means that they're going to command the automotive market. And that's worth something," CNBC contributor Gina Sanchez, founder of Chantico Global said.
Steven Pytlar, chief equity strategist at Prime Executions, agreed to what Ms Sanchez said.
"In the short-term, it looks very good. And, the short-term tells us the long-term could look a lot better than it has over the past several years."
Mr Pytlar explained that a new investor base had brought BlackBerry stock price up. He even predicted that BlackBerry stock price can go up as high as $16.
"There was a total washout of sellers. Everyone got out of the stock. There were no long-term holders. The entire investor base turned over. What happens is then you have a resetting of expectations. It went from a device company to a software company. Now it has a completely different valuation, a new investor base, and you see accumulation based on that," Mr Pytlar explained.
As early as January, when BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) was just trading at $9 per share, Citron Research had already valued the stock at $15 per share in its report titled "BlackBerry: Why the Shorts and Analysts Have it Wrong."
"While investors are bombarded on a daily basis with media articles about the struggling handset maker as if the Company was going to fall apart any day, the reality is it has a healthy balance sheet, with ample liquidity to execute its turnaround strategy and make the necessary investments for growth."