Partnership could help both companies win more enterprise customers
Samsung’s Galaxy S5 smartphone
SAN FRANCISCO—BlackBerry Ltd. and Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday agreed to sell each other’s mobile-security technology, a partnership that could help them win more enterprise customers.
The announcement came as BlackBerry BBRY, -5.72% unveiled its new mobile-security software—dubbed BlackBerry Enterprise Service 12, or BES12—a key part of its plan to double revenue from software sales to $500 million and return to profitability in its next fiscal year by winning back corporate and government business.
BlackBerry’s share of the global smartphone market has shrunk to a sliver, and the Canadian company is losing ground to rivals in sales of mobile-security software. The tie-up with Samsung 005930, -0.50% the world’s largest mobile-phone maker, will give BlackBerry access to a larger customer base to sell BES12, and comes as many companies seek one security solution to manage their employees’ various mobile devices.
Samsung, meanwhile, stands to benefit from BlackBerry’s stronger reputation for mobile security. That could help the South Korean electronics giant accelerate its efforts to expand in the enterprise market, where it has struggled to gain traction.
Selling more devices to corporate customers could also relieve some pressure on Samsung as its dominance in the consumer market comes under attack from less-expensive handsets made by Xiaomi Inc. and other Chinese vendors.
The partnership will allow both BlackBerry and Samsung to generate revenue from companies that choose to adopt Knox-embedded Samsung devices for their workers and want BES12 to manage these devices. BlackBerry and Samsung will split the revenue from these sales, but the companies haven’t disclosed that breakdown.
An expanded version of this report appears at WSJ.com