- John Chen (BBRY) says he talked with Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing and Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun, as well as HTC chairwoman Cher Wang, during a Beijing summit.
- No word on what Chen discussed, though he does say BlackBerry is looking for a partner as it tries to enter China. "It does seem that a more efficient way is to have a good partner to be here ... It’s a huge market but it’s a very highly competitive market too ... What I’m doing is to explore what is the right approach to the market given what we do well and I’m not shutting any doors."
- Chen previously said BlackBerry "needs to and should be" in China, but added he doesn't yet have a strategy for entering the market, and was hoping to get ideas at the summit.
- Also: Chen says BlackBerry will release one completely new phone in 2015, along with refreshes for its Passport, Classic, and Z3 phones, and will limit the scope of its hardware lineup. "I'm not going to build a general-purpose device, simply because it is a 5-inch touchscreen. The Chinese can build one for 75 bucks, I can't get enough parts together for 75 bucks."