BlackBerry CEO dismisses tablets as the future of mobile computing

While most believe that tablets are the future of portable computing, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins would beg to differ. He talked about it in an interview at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles, according to Bloomberg . He believes that BlackBerry will be the leader in mobile computing.

“In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore,” said Heins. “Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model.”

On the contrary, he believes that BlackBerry devices are the future of mobile computing

BlackBerry’s own tablet, the PlayBook, was launched in 2011. It didn’t do very well in terms of sales, and was heavily criticised for shipping without built-in email. In the third quarter of 2012, only 1,50,000 PlayBook tablets were shipped, as opposed to the astronomical number of Android tablets and iPads shipped that year. Heins has said that he would only consider a new PlayBook if it can be profitable. For that, it has to offer something unique that other tablets don’t offer.

“In five years, I see BlackBerry to be the absolute leader in mobile computing – that’s what we’re aiming for,” Heins said. “I want to gain as much market share as I can, but not by being a copycat.” If BlackBerry does get around to making a new tablet, it will undoubtedly run on BlackBerry 10.

At the moment, the company is working on getting the BlackBerry Q10 ready for the global market. It had launched the BlackBerry Z10 a couple of months ago alongside a brand new operating system, BlackBerry 10.