Can BlackBerry Be Cool Again? CEO John Chen Thinks So

It's rare to find a person who still uses a BlackBerry Ltd BBRY device.

The company that was once the undisputed leader in the smartphone market has seen its market share drop to a miniscule percentage. BlackBerry Chairman and CEO John Chen was on CNBC recently to discuss how he is working on making BlackBerry cool again.

Data Troubles

On the concerns of Android and iPhone users who want to switch to BlackBerry's new devices, but can't because all their data is tied to the respective ecosystem, Chen said, "There are applications that allow you to move. They are sort of [a] device switch application to move on one device to the other. So, you could transport stuff down from iTunes and the music and the photos and all that."

Related Link: BlackBerry Unveils The BlackBerry Classic In White

Switching Back

Chen was asked how he will entice former customers to switch back to BlackBerry. He replied, "We are going to focus a lot on security, privacy [...] productivity. Your battery lasts forever, and the keyboard and all that stuff, and the input and all that.

"So, it's really about creating the next cool phones so to speak. It will evolve, and then there are opportunity [sic.] to regain the market share."

Something Is Brewing

"Application has been one of our Achilles' heel[s]," Chen said. "The last couple of years, lack of apps. So, we are doing two things about it. I am not allowed to tell you what I am doing beyond just the Amazon or the Amazon apps, but we are working hard at it."

He continued, "Something [is] brewing. Yeah, I am working on something. And the other part is, we're focused a lot on the enterprise apps [...] I think there is a new generation of apps coming; that's an important thing.

"You just don't want to kind of play in the old game. You want to, got to, get ahead. And we are working on that," Chen concluded.