Dive Brief:

• BlackBerry announced it is buying competitor Good Technology Corp. for $425 million.
• The move will eliminate one of BlackBerry’s competitors.
• BlackBerry has made four other acquisitions over the last year in hopes of turning its fortunes around.

Dive Insight:

A big drop in sales since 2013 has left BlackBerry searching for new ways to stay competitive. The purchase of Good Technology is expected to help the company address one of its objectives: to help meet customers’ growing need for products that help them manage mobile devices on their corporate networks. The company wants to make it easy for companies to separate personal and company data on an employee’s device.

“By combining the two we felt this was probably the deepest and best product set,” BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen said.

The purchase will give BlackBerry access to the 6,200 organizations Good Technology serves. But some experts wonder if the purchase is a good move, because Good Technology Chief Executive Christy Wyatt has admitted the company isn’t profitable. BlackBerry may be just searching for ways to stay afloat, some speculate.