Blackberry 2014 Annual Report Download - page 11

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ANNUAL INFORMATION FORM
CERTAIN INTERPRETATION MATTERS
Unless the context otherwise requires, all references to the “Company” and “BlackBerry” include BlackBerry Limited
(formerly, Research In Motion Limited) and its subsidiaries. Certain industry and technical terms have the meanings specified
in the Glossary. All dollar references, unless otherwise noted, are in United States dollars.
BlackBerry®, BBM™, QNX® and related trademarks, names and logos are the property of BlackBerry Limited and are
registered and/or used in the United States and countries around the world. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Information Form (“AIF”) contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of certain securities laws,
including under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws, including
statements relating to:
• the Company’s plans, strategies and objectives, including the anticipated benefits of the strategic initiatives described
below, and the anticipated opportunities and challenges for the Company in fiscal 2015;
• the Company’s expectations with respect to the sufficiency of its financial resources;
• the Company’s expectations regarding new product initiatives and their timing, including BlackBerry Enterprise
Service (“BES”) 10, BES 12, BlackBerry 10 smartphones and services related to BlackBerry Messenger (“BBM”),
QNX software products and the QNX cloud-based machine to machine solution (the “QNX Cloud”);
• the Company’s plans and expectations regarding its existing and new service offerings, assumptions regarding its
service revenue model, and the anticipated levels of decline in service revenue in the coming quarters;
• anticipated demand for, and the Company’s plans and expectations relating to, the Company’s BlackBerry 7 and 10
smartphones, including programs to drive sell-through of these smartphones;
• the Company’s ongoing efforts to streamline its operations and its expectations relating to the benefits of its Cost
Optimization and Resource Efficiency (“CORE”) program and similar strategies;
• the Company's plans to continue implementation of a workforce reduction of approximately 4,500 positions; and
• the Company’s plans and expectations regarding marketing and promotional programs.
The words “expect”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “intend”, “believe”, “plan” and similar expressions are
intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by
the Company in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future
developments, as well as other factors that the Company believes are appropriate in the circumstances, including but not
limited to, the Company’s expectations regarding its business, strategy, opportunities and prospects, including its ability to
implement meaningful changes to address its business challenges, the launch of products based on the BlackBerry 10 platform,
general economic conditions, product pricing levels and competitive intensity, supply constraints, and the Company’s
expectations regarding the cash flow generation of its business and the sufficiency of its financial resources. Many factors
could cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by
the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the following factors, most of which are discussed in greater
detail in the “Risk Factors” section of this AIF:
• risks related to the Company's ability to implement and to realize the benefits of its strategic initiatives, including a
return to the Company's core strengths of enterprise and security, changes to the Company's Devices business,
including the new partnership with Foxconn Technology Group (“Foxconn”), and the planned transition to an
operating unit organizational structure consisting of the Devices business, Enterprise Services, QNX Embedded
business and Messaging;
• the Company’s ability to maintain its existing relationships with its enterprise customers and the Company's ability to
transition its enterprise customers to the BES 10 platform and deploy BlackBerry 10 smartphones, and the risk that
current BES 10 test installations may not convert to commercial installations;
• the Company's ability to enhance its current products and services, or develop new products and services in a timely
manner or at competitive prices, including risks related to new product introductions and adoption and the relevance of
hardware in light of the Company's decreasing market share of the smartphone industry;
• the risk that uncertainty relating to the Company's previously disclosed announcements concerning the Company's
operational restructuring, recent management changes and the Company's workforce reductions, may adversely impact
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