To enter the domestic BlackBerry or with millet, Lenovo, HTC cooperation

After meeting with the CEO of Millet and Lenovo, BlackBerry CEO Chen said in Monday that he was interested in expanding the tentacles of China, the world's largest smartphone market.

Chen, who made his remarks at the APEC CEO summit in Beijing, was his first trip to China after his BlackBerry CEO. The BlackBerry's advantage, he argues, is security, encryption and privacy, which is precisely what Chinese users crave, and it is likely that the company will reach a technology licensing, distribution or production agreement with Chinese companies.

Chen said at the summit that he met with Millet CEO Lei and Lenovo CEO Yang. The meeting with the head of China's two smart-machine makers comes as the BlackBerry program resumes growth. The decline in mobile phone shipments has dragged down the BlackBerry's net losses over the past 3 years.

"Expanding the local market through good partners seems like a more efficient way to do it," he said. "I came here to look for potential opportunities," Chen said in an interview. We haven't really paid attention to the market. This is a huge market, but the competition is very fierce. ”

Chen also met with HTC Chairman Wang.

Chen a year ago in the helm of the BlackBerry reins, leading the company's recovery plan. Prior to that, the company's smartphone shipments have been sliding for four consecutive years because they could not compete with Apple and Samsung in the touch-device sector. Chen has outsourced some of its BlackBerry production and sold assets, focusing on corporate users with devices equipped with physical keyboards, and providing more software services.

Chen reiterated that this series of measures will make the BlackBerry cash flow at the end of the fiscal year to achieve a balance, and to return to profitability.

According to data compiled by Bloomberg, BlackBerry shipments were 19.2 million in 2013 and 51.1 million in 2011.

The company launched its new passport Fang mobile phone This September, selling 200,000 of them as soon as it went public. Designed for business users, the device allows them to compose emails, study spreadsheets, and read electronic documents on their phones.

Chen has said he has begun to study a new concept of mobile phones, and will be released next year, one of which will be released at the March Mobile World Congress (MWC). The company is also developing another version of the passport.

According to Bloomberg, the company received 16% of its revenue from the Asia-Pacific region as of March, and the U.S. contributed 19% of its revenue.

"I'm not going to sell the company. "I hope we can operate independently," Chen said. He said the BlackBerry's current financial situation had improved and he hoped to seek growth through the Chinese market. China accounts for only hundreds of thousands of of the world's more than 40 million BlackBerry users.

Chen declined to disclose details of the talks with Lenovo and the chief executive of Millet, which the two companies have not yet commented on. But he said it was too early to judge the outcome of the company's negotiations in China.

"We will explore the right approach according to our own advantages, and I will not rule out any possibility." "It's not easy to make a quick deal in this market," Chen said. Although it will take some time, but I am really interested. ”