Troubled BlackBerry started the smartphone marathon race ahead of the pack years ago, but has fallen well behind as it faces 4,500 worker layoffs, a $1 billion write-off for unsold smartphones and the likelihood of being sold off in parts.
To push that metaphor, BlackBerry is still in the race, but only barely, as its running shoes have worn down to shreds during its grueling climb up Heartbreak Hill.
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The latest demonstration of BlackBerry's resolve in the face of improbable odds was revealed Tuesday in an open letter the phone maker posted online and that also ran in many newspapers. It's addressed to "customers, partners and fans" and assures them: "You can continue to count on BlackBerry."
The letter recounts BlackBerry's "substantial cash on hand and a balance sheet that is debt free" and describes its "best in class" security and mobile management software while calling its BlackBerry Messenger mobile messaging platform the "most engaging."
BlackBerry also admits "these are no doubt challenging times for us and we don't underestimate the situation or ignore the challenges we are facing...there is a lot of competition out there and we know that BlackBerry is not for everyone. That's OK."
The letter concludes: "We believe in BlackBerry -- our people, our technology, and our ability to adapt. More importantly, we believe in you. We focus every day on what it takes to make sure that you can take care of business."
Aside from winning the blue ribbon for "best rhetoric from a downcast technology vendor in the face of disaster," the letter doesn't reveal anything that is new about BlackBerry's recent plight.
The letter is clearly addressed to customers and not investors, or even potential investors, who are aware that BlackBerry says it lost $1 billion mostly for unsold Z10 smartphones in the third quarter and faces laying off 4,500 of its 12,500 workers.
Potential investors include Fairfax Financial Holdings of Toronto, which has a preliminary deal to buy BlackBerry for $4.7 billion and take it private. Last week, the company's original founders Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin also revealed in Security and Exchange Commission documents that they are exploring buying all or part of BlackBerry.
That those two men might consider buying just a part of BlackBerry might sound like a shame, but it is also what is reportedly on the minds of others.
While BlackBerry does have $3 billion in cash and investments and no debt, as it reported in its third-quarter earnings report, there are also reports -- which BlackBerry has neither confirmed nor denied -- that it still has more losses to come from slack-selling smartphones.
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