Blackberry plans IoT push at CES

BlackBerry is still reporting a loss, but software sales are growing fast and even hardware is closer to break-even
Blackberry CEO John Chen hopes that what happens in Vegas won't stay in Vegas.

The company is planning to push its QNX real-time operating system for the Internet of Things at CES, the giant consumer electronics show held in Las Vegas each January, and hopes it will be a break-out success.
BlackBerry acquired QNX in 2010, using it first in its ill-fated PlayBook tablet before going on to build the BlackBerry 10 OS on top of it. The software also shows up in many car entertainment systems.

Chen carefully did not say that BlackBerry will itself be introducing any new connected things in Vegas, merely that it will highlight its initiatives in IoT, and that there will be new technology demonstrations and product roll-outs.
The company saw 43% organic growth in its software licensing revenue in its third fiscal quarter, ended Nov. 28, Chen said, hinting that much of this came from QNX. BlackBerry has been busy licensing the software to other manufacturers, which are choosing it for their own hardware, including new in-car applications, some in self-driving cars, Chen said.