Is BlackBerry interim Chief Executive John Chen the Waterloo, Ontario-based company's knight in shining armour? Will he save the embattled phone maker from the fate that has fallen previous number one phone manufacturers Nokia and Motorola the way he did for software maker Sybase in the 1990s?

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Mr Chen was appointed to his new post on Monday, replacing Thorsten Heins, after the $4.7 billion buyout deal with Fairfax Financial did not push through. However, much challenge faces him since BlackBerry has lost 95 per cent of its value since mid-2008.

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It's déjà vu for Mr Chen, 58, who took over the reins in 1998 of Sybase which was in the middle of a restructuring, had laid off 10 per cent of its employees and trading at a record-low rate. However, after 2 years running the company, Mr Chen sold Sybase to SAP for $5.8 billion, six-fold the value of the ailing company when he took over.

Jack Gold, an industry analyst believes that Mr Chen has what it takes to turnaround ailing companies. He said, quoted by Bloomberg, "John Chen knows how to manage a mobile company and, perhaps more importantly, can make things happen in the industry."

Mr Gold said the interim chief executive could "bring either new growth to the company or position the company to be acquired at a higher premium than it can currently demand."

Mr Chen said he is not planning to negotiate a quick sale of BlackBerry, saying, "I'm going to focus on making the business better. There are lots of assets in the company, and there are some really good things happening, and we need to find a way to broaden it, monetize it and serve the market a little better and more aggressively."

Mr Chen was an export council member during President George W Bush's term and sits at the board of Wells Fargo and Walt Disney.

He stressed, quoted by ZDNET, "BlackBerry is an iconic brand with enormous potential - but it's going to take time, discipline and tough decisions to reclaim our success. I look forward to leading BlackBerry in its turnaround and business model transformation for the benefit of all of its constituencies, including its customers, shareholder and employees."

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