BlackBerry Executive Eric Johnson Leaves Company
November 24 2015 - 2:30PM
Dow Jones News
Eric Johnson, the executive in charge of BlackBerry Ltd.'s
enterprise software and services sales to government and business
customers, has left the smartphone maker, as it struggles to
reignite revenue growth by targeting its traditional customer
base.
Mr. Johnson recently left BlackBerry, a spokeswoman for the
Waterloo, Ontario-based company confirmed in an email. She declined
to specify the date of his departure or provide a reason.
Mr. Johnson couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
His departure comes after BlackBerry named Cisco Systems Inc.
sales veteran Carl Wiese as head of global sales in July.
BlackBerry has faced continued challenges after a failed attempt to
compete against Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. in the
consumer smartphone market.
Relying on cost-cutting and other moves, BlackBerry Chief
Executive John Chen has stemmed losses since joining the company in
November 2013. Now he is betting on new mobile device-management
software, new smartphones—including BlackBerry's first ever
Android-powered device—and acquisitions to bolster revenue.
Still, revenue remains under pressure, falling 47% in the fiscal
second quarter ended Aug. 29. BlackBerry reports its third-quarter
results on Dec. 18.
Mr. Johnson, a former executive at business-software giant SAP
SE, was part of the original executive team assembled by Mr. Chen
to help spearhead the company's turnaround effort. That group also
included John Sims, another former SAP executive. He was head of
global sales, but left when Mr. Wiese took over that role.
Write to Ben Dummett at ben.dummett@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 24, 2015 14:15 ET (19:15 GMT)
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