What changed in this filing

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Item 1. Business

2021-03-31 compared with 2020-04-07 · 148 added, 106 removed, 125 unchanged (67% of the section changed)

The Company provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world.

The company secures more than 500 million endpoints including 150 million cars.

Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages artificial intelligence (“AI”) and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety and data privacy, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint security management, encryption, and embedded systems.

The Company secures more than 500 million endpoints including more than 175 million cars on the road today.

Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the Company leverages artificial intelligence (“AI”) and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety and data privacy, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint security, endpoint management, encryption, and embedded systems.

The Company was incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) (“OBCA”) on March 7, 1984 and commenced operations at that time.

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Intercorporate Relationships

The Company has five material subsidiaries, all of which are wholly-owned, directly or indirectly, by the Company in each case as at February 29, 2020.

The Company has three material subsidiaries, all of which are wholly-owned, directly or indirectly, by the Company in each case as at February 28, 2021.

Name of Subsidiary Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization

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Delaware, U.S.A.

Good Technology Corporation Delaware, U.S.A.

QNX Software Systems Limited Ontario, Canada

Internet of Things Security Software Industry

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These endpoints, which include smartphones, laptops, desktops, servers, vehicles, industrial equipment and other connected devices in the Internet of Things (“IoT”), increasingly operate beyond the traditional network security perimeter and present an expanding attack surface to cyber adversaries.

At the same time, the threat environment for enterprises has become increasingly hostile as the number of adversaries grows and the sophistication of their attacks, increasingly focused on the endpoint, continues to develop.

During fiscal 2020, the decentralization of the enterprise was accelerated by the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted many organizations to pivot to substantially remote and mobile work models.

At the same time, the threat environment for enterprises has become increasingly hostile as the number of adversaries grows and the scale and sophistication of their attacks, increasingly focused on the endpoint, continue to develop.

Today’s malicious actors are often well-trained and well-funded criminal organizations, state-sponsored agents and international hacking collectives with the capability of employing advanced techniques to penetrate endpoints and encrypt, destroy or exfiltrate data.

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In particular, changes to data privacy laws in the United States, Europe and other jurisdictions are compounding the challenges faced by organizations by increasing their responsibilities for securing their data as well as that of their customers.

This landscape has created opportunities for secure communications platforms, endpoint management and protection solutions, embedded systems, enterprise applications, analytic tools and related services that help enterprises to secure their connected endpoints, enhance data privacy and demonstrate compliance with applicable regulations.

The Company is widely recognized for its intelligent security software and services, and believes that it delivers the broadest set of security capabilities and visibility in the market, covering users, devices, networks, apps and data.

The Company leverages its extensive technology portfolio to offer best-in-class security, safety and reliability to enterprise customers in growing segments of the IoT, cybersecurity, connected transportation, healthcare, financial services and government markets.

The Company’s goal is to remain a leader in regulated industries and other core verticals by continuing to extend the functionality of its secure BlackBerry Spark® software platform through organic investments and strategic acquisitions and partnerships.

The Company intends to drive revenue growth and to achieve margins that are consistent with those of other enterprise software companies.

This landscape of growing vulnerability and accountability has created opportunities for secure communications platforms, endpoint cybersecurity and management solutions, embedded systems, enterprise applications, analytic tools and related services that help enterprises to secure their connected endpoints, enhance data privacy and demonstrate compliance with applicable regulations.

The Company is widely recognized for its intelligent security software and services and believes that it delivers the broadest set of security capabilities in the market to connect, protect and manage IoT endpoints.

The Company leverages its extensive technology portfolio to offer best-in-class cybersecurity, safety and reliability to enterprise customers in government, regulated industries and other core verticals.

The Company’s goal is to offer smarter security solutions that are more effective, require fewer resources to support and produce a better return on investment for customers than competing offerings.

To achieve this vision, the Company continues to extend the functionality of its AI-focused BlackBerry Spark® software platform through organic investments and strategic acquisitions and partnerships.

The Company’s go-to-market strategy focuses principally on generating revenue from enterprise software, services and licensing.

The Company continues to build its developer and channel partner programs to bolster its direct sales and marketing efforts and promote the growth of an IoT ecosystem.

The Company intends to drive revenue growth and to achieve margins that are consistent with those of other enterprise software companies.

Products and Services

The Company is organized and managed as one operating segment.

The Company has multiple products and services from which it derives revenue, which are structured in three groups:

BlackBerry Spark, BlackBerry IoT Solutions, and BlackBerry IP Licensing.

The Company has multiple products and services from which it derives revenue, which are structured in two groups:

Software and Services, and Licensing and Other.

Software and Services consists of the Company’s BlackBerry Spark software platform business and BlackBerry IoT Solutions business.

Licensing and Other consists primarily of the Company’s patent licensing business and service access fees (“SAF”).

Software and Services

BlackBerry Spark

The Company’s core software and services offering is its secure BlackBerry Spark software platform that comprises continuous authentication, endpoint protection platform (“EPP”), endpoint detection and response (“EDR”), and mobile threat defense (“MTD”) capabilities.

BlackBerry Spark includes a unified endpoint security (“UES”) layer which integrates with BlackBerry unified endpoint management (“UEM”) to enable secure endpoint communications in a zero trust environment.

The platform is informed by the Company’s AI and machine learning capabilities, continuous innovations, professional cybersecurity services, industry partnerships and academic collaborations.

The Company is currently executing on a robust schedule of product launches for BlackBerry Spark to deliver a comprehensive security approach operating on one agent across all endpoints, administered from one console, leveraging one crowd-sourced threat data repository and managed in one cloud environment.

The BlackBerry Spark platform includes a suite of security software products and services, including BlackBerry Cylance, BlackBerry® UEM, BlackBerry® Dynamics™ and BlackBerry® Workspaces.

The Company also offers the BlackBerry® Spark SDK to promote the evolution of a platform ecosystem by enabling enterprise and independent software vendor (“ISV”) developers to integrate the security features of BlackBerry Spark into their own mobile and web applications.

BlackBerry Cylance

BlackBerry Cylance offers leading AI and machine learning-based cybersecurity solutions, including:

CylancePROTECT®, an EPP solution that uses machine learning to prevent suspicious behavior and the execution of malicious code on an endpoint;

CylanceOPTICS®, an EDR solution that provides both visibility into and prevention of malicious activity on an endpoint;

and CylanceGUARD™, an MDR solution that provides continuous threat hunting and monitoring.

The Company’s core secure software and services offering is its BlackBerry Spark software platform, which integrates a unified endpoint security (“UES”) layer with BlackBerry unified endpoint management (“UEM”) to enable secure endpoint communications in a zero trust environment.

BlackBerry UES is a set of complementary cybersecurity products offering endpoint protection platform (“EPP”), endpoint detection and response (“EDR”), mobile threat defense (“MTD”), and user and entity behavior analytics (“UEBA”) capabilities.

The BlackBerry Spark platform is informed by the Company’s AI and machine learning capabilities, continuous innovations, professional cybersecurity services, industry partnerships and academic collaborations.

The Company is currently executing on a robust schedule of product launches for BlackBerry Spark to deliver a comprehensive security approach operating on a single agent across all endpoints, administered from a single console, leveraging a single crowd-sourced threat data repository and managed in one cloud environment.

BlackBerry Spark solutions are available through the BlackBerry Spark® Unified Endpoint Security Suite and the BlackBerry Spark® Unified Endpoint Management Suite, which are also marketed together as the BlackBerry Spark® Suites, offering the Company’s most comprehensive range of tailored cybersecurity and endpoint management options.

The BlackBerry Spark UES Suite offers leading Cylance® AI and machine learning-based cybersecurity solutions, including:

BlackBerry® Protect, an EPP and available MTD solution that uses machine learning to prevent suspicious behavior and the execution of malicious code on an endpoint;

BlackBerry® Optics, an EDR solution that provides both visibility into and prevention of malicious activity on an endpoint;

BlackBerry® Guard, a managed detection and response solution that provides 24/7 threat hunting and monitoring;

and BlackBerry® Persona, a UEBA solution that provides continuous authentication by validating user identity in real time.

The combined platform features industry-leading threat prevention modules to help organizations cope with the significant growth of cyberattacks.

This enables organizations to employ a prevention-oriented strategy to ensure that threats do not run on a system.

Unlike traditional signature-based cybersecurity products, the BlackBerry Cylance solution can predict whether code that has never been seen before, known in the cybersecurity industry as “zero-day” threats, is malicious and prevent it from running.

BlackBerry Cylance also offers incident response, compromised assessment and containment services to assist clients with forensic analysis, state of existing systems and remediation of attacks.

BlackBerry UEM and BlackBerry Dynamics

The Company also offers incident response, compromised assessment and containment services to assist clients with forensic analysis, state of existing systems and remediation of attacks.

In addition, the Company offers the BlackBerry Cyber Suite, a UEM-agnostic version of its BlackBerry Spark® UES Suite which organizations will be able to integrate with UEM software from other leading vendors.

The BlackBerry Spark UEM Suite includes the Company’s BlackBerry® UEM, BlackBerry® Dynamics™ and BlackBerry® Workspaces solutions.

BlackBerry UEM is a central software component of the Company’s secure communications platform, offering a “single pane of glass”, or unified console view, for managing and securing devices, applications, identity, content and endpoints across all leading operating systems.

BlackBerry Dynamics offers a best-in-class development platform and secure container for mobile applications, including the Company’s own enterprise applications such as BlackBerry® Work and BlackBerry® Connect for secure collaboration.

BlackBerry Workspaces

BlackBerry Workspaces is an enterprise file synchronization and sharing solution that embeds digital rights management protection in shared files to address the challenges of document security, manageability, tracking and compliance among multiple users in the enterprise.

BlackBerry IoT Solutions

The BlackBerry IoT Solutions group includes BlackBerry® QNX®, BlackBerry® AtHoc®, SecuSUITE, BlackBerry Certicom®, BlackBerry Radar®, and other IoT applications.

BlackBerry QNX

BlackBerry QNX is a global provider of real-time operating systems, middleware, development tools, and professional services for connected embedded systems in the automotive, medical, industrial automation and other markets.

The BlackBerry IoT Solutions business consists of BlackBerry Technology Solutions (“BTS”) and Secure Communications.

BlackBerry Technology Solutions

The principal component of BTS is BlackBerry QNX, a global provider of real-time operating systems, middleware, development tools, and professional services for connected embedded systems in the automotive, medical, industrial automation and other markets.

A recognized leader in automotive software, BlackBerry QNX offers a growing portfolio of safety-certified, secure and reliable platform solutions and is focused on achieving design wins with automotive original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”), Tier 1 vendors and automotive semiconductor suppliers.

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Additionally, the Company’s secure automotive over-the-air software update management service allows OEMs to manage the life cycle of the software and security in their vehicles.

The Company is developing a concept system to integrate BlackBerry Spark capabilities, including AI and machine learning technologies, with BlackBerry QNX automotive solutions.

The Company recently announced that it has entered into an agreement with Amazon Web Services, Inc.

(“AWS”) to develop and market BlackBerry IVY™, an intelligent vehicle data platform leveraging BlackBerry QNX’s automotive capabilities.

BlackBerry IVY will allow automakers to safely access a vehicle’s sensor data, normalize it, and apply machine learning to generate and share predictive insights and inferences.

Automakers and developers will be able to use this information to create responsive in-vehicle services that enhance driver and passenger experiences.

BlackBerry IVY will support multiple vehicle operating systems and multi-cloud deployments in order to ensure compatibility across vehicle models and brands.

The Company expects to release an early access version of BlackBerry IVY in October 2021, followed by a commercial release in February 2022 with installations of BlackBerry IVY to begin in 2023 model year vehicles.

BlackBerry QNX is also a preferred supplier of embedded systems for companies building medical devices, train-control systems, industrial robots, hardware security modules, building automation systems, green energy solutions, and other mission-critical applications.

BlackBerry AtHoc

BlackBerry AtHoc is a secure, networked crisis communications software platform that enables people, devices and organizations to exchange critical information in real time during business continuity and life safety operations.

The platform securely connects with a diverse set of endpoints to distribute emergency mass notifications, improve personnel accountability and facilitate the bidirectional collection and sharing of data within and between organizations.

BlackBerry AtHoc earned FedRAMP authorization in fiscal 2018 and helps to protect more than 70% of U.S.

government personnel.

SecuSUITE® for Government is a certified, multi-OS voice and text messaging solution with advanced encryption and anti-eavesdropping capabilities providing a maximum level of security on the individual device level for public authorities and businesses.

BlackBerry Certicom

In addition to BlackBerry QNX, BTS includes BlackBerry Certicom® cryptography and key management products and the BlackBerry Radar® asset monitoring solution.

BlackBerry Certicom leverages patented elliptic curve cryptography to provide device security, anti-counterfeiting and product authentication solutions.

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BlackBerry Certicom’s secure key provisioning, code signing and security credential management system services protect next-generation connected cars, critical infrastructure and IoT deployments from product counterfeiting, re-manufacturing and unauthorized network access.

BlackBerry Radar

The Company offers the BlackBerry Radar family of asset tracking and telematics solutions for the transportation and logistics industry.

BlackBerry Radar is a family of asset monitoring and telematics solutions for the transportation and logistics industry.

The BlackBerry Radar solution includes devices and secure cloud-based dashboards for tracking containers, trailers, chassis, flatbeds and heavy machinery, for reporting locations and sensor data, and for enabling custom alerts and fleet management analytics.

The Company’s IoT solutions also include BlackBerry Jarvis™, a cloud-based binary static application security testing platform that identifies vulnerabilities in deployed binary software used in automobiles and other embedded applications, and BBM® Enterprise, an enterprise-grade secure instant messaging solution for messaging, voice, and video.

BTS solutions also include BlackBerry Jarvis™, a cloud-based binary static application security testing platform that identifies vulnerabilities in deployed binary software used in automobiles and other embedded applications, and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM®) Enterprise, an enterprise-grade secure instant messaging solution for messaging, voice and video.

Secure Communications

Secure Communications consists of BlackBerry® AtHoc®, BlackBerry® Alert and SecuSUITE.

BlackBerry AtHoc and BlackBerry Alert are secure critical event management solutions that enable people, devices and organizations to exchange critical information in real time during business continuity and life safety operations.

The platforms securely connect with a diverse set of endpoints to distribute emergency mass notifications, improve personnel accountability and facilitate the bidirectional collection and sharing of data within and between organizations.

BlackBerry AtHoc serves the requirements of the public sector market while BlackBerry Alert targets the commercial sector.

SecuSUITE® for Government is a certified, multi-OS voice and text messaging solution with advanced encryption, anti-eavesdropping and continuous authentication capabilities, providing a maximum level of security on conventional mobile devices for public authorities and businesses.

The BlackBerry Spark and BlackBerry IoT Solutions groups are both complemented by the enterprise and cybersecurity consulting services offered by the Company’s BlackBerry® Professional Services business.

BlackBerry Professional Services provides platform-agnostic strategies to address mobility-based challenges, providing expert deployment support, end-to-end delivery (from system design to user training), application consulting, and experienced project management.

The Company’s cybersecurity consulting services and tools, combined with its other security solutions, help customers identify the latest cybersecurity threats, test for vulnerabilities, develop risk-appropriate mitigations, maintain IT security standards and techniques, and defend against the risk of future attacks.

BlackBerry IP Licensing

The BlackBerry IP Licensing group is responsible for the management and monetization of the Company’s global patent portfolio.

The Company’s

cybersecurity consulting services and tools, combined with its other security solutions, help customers identify the latest cybersecurity threats, test for vulnerabilities, develop risk-appropriate mitigations, maintain IT security standards and techniques, and defend against the risk of future attacks.

Beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2022, the Company intends to describe the Software and Services group as consisting of the Company’s Cyber Security business and the BTS business.

Cyber Security will consist of BlackBerry Spark together with BlackBerry AtHoc, BlackBerry Alert and SecuSUITE, and the BlackBerry IoT Solutions and Secure Communications nomenclature will no longer apply or be used.

Licensing and Other

The Company’s Licensing business is responsible for the management and monetization of the Company’s global patent portfolio.

The patent portfolio continues to provide a competitive advantage in the Company’s core product areas as well as providing leverage in the development of future technologies and licensing programs in both core and adjacent vertical markets.

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The Company also continues to operate its own licensing program outside of Teletry’s sublicensing rights and intends to increase recurring revenue from this program.

In addition, in recent years, the Company licensed its device security software and service suite and related brand assets to outsourcing partners who designed, manufactured, marketed and continue to provide customer support for BlackBerry-branded handsets featuring the Company’s secure Android™ software.

The Company's technology licensing revenue from Teletry represented approximately 22% of the Company's net sales in fiscal 2021.

In addition, in recent years, the Company has licensed its device security software and service suite and related brand assets to outsourcing partners who design, manufacture, market and provide customer support for BlackBerry-branded handsets featuring the Company’s secure Android™ software.

The Company also entered into licensing arrangements with manufacturers of other devices with embedded BlackBerry cybersecurity technology.

In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, the Company entered into exclusive negotiations with a North American entity for the potential sale of a portion of the patent portfolio relating primarily to non-core or legacy mobile devices, messaging and wireless networking technologies.

The Company expects to retain rights to use these patents if a transaction is completed and does not intend to sell patents associated with the Company’s current Software and Services business.

Negotiations are ongoing and there can be no assurance that the Company will reach a definitive agreement or that a transaction will be consummated.

The Company’s Other business generates revenue from SAF charged to subscribers using the Company’s legacy BlackBerry 7 and prior BlackBerry operating systems.

Sales, Marketing, Distribution and Customers

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The Company focuses on strategic industries with vertical-specific use cases, including regulated enterprise markets such as financial services, government, healthcare, professional services and transportation, and other markets where embedded software and critical infrastructure are important, such as utilities, mining and manufacturing.

The Company's sales to Teletry represented approximately 13% of the Company's net sales in fiscal 2020.

The Company licenses the BlackBerry Spark platform, including its individual components and complementary third-party applications, through a geographically-dispersed direct sales force, value-added resellers, managed security service providers and alliance partners.

The Company continues to build its global BlackBerry Partner Program for resellers and distributors to bolster its direct sales and marketing efforts.

The Company also licenses its enterprise software and services through global wireless communications carriers, which are able to bill separately for BlackBerry UEM services, and other distribution partners around the world.

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The licenses are primarily monetized as royalties on units shipped and through project development seats, tools and maintenance fees.

The Company markets and sells its BlackBerry Radar secure asset tracking products and services to enterprise users through its internal sales force as well as through third party distribution channels.

The Company markets and sells its BlackBerry Radar secure asset monitoring products and services to enterprise users through its internal sales force as well as through third party distribution channels.

Competitive Strengths

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BlackBerry Spark

The BlackBerry Spark platform establishes the most complete security controls in any connected IoT environment, integrating the technologies of BlackBerry Cylance, BlackBerry UEM, BlackBerry Dynamics and BlackBerry Workspaces.

BlackBerry Cylance cybersecurity products and services employ an advanced implementation of machine learning engineered by a team of data scientists teamed with experts in cybersecurity.

BlackBerry Cylance efficiently collects cyberattack data from public sources across its large user base and uses the data to train future models, continuously improving the effectiveness of its products.

Deployment of the CylancePROTECT EPP solution drastically decreases the number of attacks to which an organization must detect and respond.

For EDR, CylanceOPTICS feeds only highly relevant information regarding attacks for the organization to work with, materially reducing the number of resources required.

Other components of the comprehensive BlackBerry Spark platform include leading unified endpoint management, secure business productivity, application containerization, secure collaboration and digital rights management capabilities.

The BlackBerry Spark is differentiated through its use of a zero-trust architecture that uniquely combines intelligent security with a user experience that requires little to no support from end users or IT administrators, simplifying management and

reducing costs.

The platform applies AI, machine learning and automation to understand and define risks, make contextual decisions and dynamically apply policy controls with no user interruption.

The Company recently announcing its new UES layer which works with BlackBerry UEM to provide visibility and control across desktop, mobile, server and IoT endpoints at any time, from any location and over any network.

The Company also intends to make UES compatible with third-party unified endpoint management solutions.

The BlackBerry Spark platform establishes the most complete security controls in any connected IoT environment and meets a growing market demand for a comprehensive solution that integrates unified endpoint security and endpoint management capabilities in a single console with visibility across all endpoints.

The platform is differentiated through its use of a zero-trust architecture that uniquely combines intelligent security with a user experience that requires little to no support from end users or IT administrators, simplifying management and reducing costs.

The BlackBerry Cyber Suite leverages Cylance AI, machine learning and automation to provide improved cyber threat prevention and remediation, and can help users to understand risks, make contextual decisions and dynamically apply policy controls with no user interruption, mitigating risks before they materialize.

The Company trains its AI model against data lakes containing billions of files so that it learns to autonomously convict, or not convict, files prior to their execution.

Unlike traditional signature-based cybersecurity technology, this prevention-oriented approach is able to protect enterprises from malicious zero-day payloads before they are deployed, and even when protected endpoints are offline.

Additionally, detection and response decisions are pushed down to the endpoint, minimizing response latency so that a minor security event can be addressed before it becomes a widespread incident.

BlackBerry Protect has earned Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (“FedRAMP”) authorization.

The BlackBerry Spark UEM Suite includes leading unified endpoint management, secure business productivity, application containerization, secure collaboration and digital rights management capabilities.

BlackBerry UEM has earned National Information Assurance Partnership (“NIAP”) certification and is the only mobile device management solution on the U.S.

Department of Defense Information Network’s Approved Product List.

The Company also provides a full development solution for the creation and retrofitting of apps for use in a container and offers an extensive library of secure enterprise applications.

The inclusion of a sophisticated network operations center in the BlackBerry infrastructure is also a key differentiator.

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BlackBerry IoT Solutions

BlackBerry QNX is recognized for attaining the highest levels of security certifications and approvals for many of its products and is the leader in safety-certified, secure and reliable software for the automotive industry.

BlackBerry QNX provides critical foundational software and services for connected systems to automotive OEMs and Tier 1 vendors and to the general embedded market.

In the embedded software industry, systems are becoming increasingly connected and complex, with software being used for functions that were previously performed by hardware, driving new functional safety considerations.

BlackBerry QNX is recognized for attaining the highest levels of security certifications and approvals for many of its embedded products and is the leader in safety-certified, secure and reliable software for the automotive industry.

BlackBerry QNX is a trusted supplier of operating systems, hypervisors, development tools and support to automotive OEMs and Tier 1 vendors and to the general embedded market.

BlackBerry QNX technology is embedded in over 175 million cars.

BlackBerry AtHoc is a leader in network-centric, interactive crisis communication and is the leading provider of such solutions to the U.S.

Department of Defense, the U.S.

Department of Homeland Security, and leading healthcare, industrial and commercial organizations.

The BlackBerry AtHoc platform integrates with legacy systems, is mobile, supports on-premise and cloud-based deployments, and has received FedRAMP authorization for its security.

An incident management and encrypted end-to-end instant messaging capability has been introduced on the platform, creating a suite of secure crisis communication services.

The BlackBerry AtHoc and BlackBerry Alert platforms are mobile and scalable, integrate with legacy systems and support on-premise and cloud-based deployments.

With available incident management and encrypted end-to-end instant messaging capabilities, the platforms offer a suite of secure crisis communication services to meet the growing number of use cases for emergency or mass notifications.

BlackBerry AtHoc has received FedRAMP certification and is the leading provider of network-centric, interactive crisis communication to the U.S.

Department of Defense and the U.S.

Department of Homeland Security, among other governmental bodies.

BlackBerry AtHoc helps to protect more than 70% of U.S.

government personnel.

The Company’s SecuSUITE technology has been certified to be compliant with the Common Criteria protection profile for VoIP applications and SIP servers.

It has also earned National Information Assurance Partnership (“NIAP”) certification and has been placed on the National Security Agency’s Commercial Solutions for Classified Program component list of products certified for use on classified systems.

It has also earned NIAP certification and has been placed on the National Security Agency’s Commercial Solutions for Classified Program component list of products certified for use on classified systems.

The Company is engaged in markets that are highly competitive and rapidly evolving.

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The Company competes with a broad range of vendors in each of its businesses.

See “Competitive Strengths” above for a discussion of how the Company believes it differentiates itself from competitors in its various business.

In the Company’s endpoint management, containerization and collaboration solutions, including BlackBerry UEM and BlackBerry Dynamics, the Company competes primarily with providers of enterprise software solutions.

BlackBerry Cylance’s endpoint security technologies compete with various types of providers, including:

incumbent antivirus vendors;

See “Competitive Strengths” above for a discussion of how the Company believes it differentiates itself from competitors in its various businesses.

With the BlackBerry UEM Suite, the Company competes primarily with providers of enterprise software solutions.

BlackBerry’s UES Technology, including the BlackBerry Cyber Suite, competes with various types of providers, including:

traditional signature-based antivirus vendors and identity management;

vendors whose business focuses almost solely on EPP;

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and large network security providers, which have entered the market primarily through acquisition.

The Company’s BlackBerry QNX automotive business competes principally with providers of embedded software that employ customized Linux open-source operating systems for the transportation and logistics industry.

See Part 1, Item 1A “Risk Factors - The Company faces intense competition ”.

Product Design, Engineering and Research and Development

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Solutions include leading security capabilities at each level of the platform in order to address the needs of customers for securing devices, applications, content and work data at rest and in transit.

The Company makes significant investments to support BlackBerry Cylance solutions and is committed to hiring and retaining top data scientists and engineers in the areas of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The Company makes significant investments to support its cybersecurity solutions and is committed to hiring and retaining top data scientists and engineers in the areas of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

R&D investments at BlackBerry QNX are increasingly focused on software innovations for autonomous and connected vehicles.

To support its BlackBerry Radar solution, the Company creates innovative and robust hardware designs combined with proprietary software and firmware features to address new applications and market demands.

The Company’s investment in longer term research is, in part, supported by taking advantage of specific government financial assistance programs where available.

For example, the Company qualifies for investment tax credits on eligible expenditures on account of the Canadian Scientific Research and Experimental Development Program.

For example, the Company participates in the Strategic Innovation Fund program of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.

For additional information, see Note 11 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

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The platform also includes SDKs for BlackBerry UEM, BlackBerry Workspaces, BlackBerry AtHoc and other products.

The core development platform for BlackBerry QNX-based systems is the QNX® Software Development Platform (SDP), which includes the QNX Neutrino Realtime Operating System and the QNX Momentics® Tool Suite.

The QNX SDP is complemented by the QNX® Platform for ADAS (advanced driver-assistance systems), QNX® Acoustics Management Platform, QNX® CAR Platform for Infotainment, QNX® Platform for Digital Instrument Clusters and QNX® Platform for Digital Cockpits.

The BlackBerry Cylance Protect and Optics API development platform enables enterprise application developers and ISVs to develop robust extensible security integrations for CylancePROTECT and CylanceOPTICS, creating results-based offerings for targeted use cases.

Completed integrations are shared with the user community and promoted to market partners and cloud marketplace providers.

The primary development platform for BlackBerry QNX-based systems is the QNX® Software Development Platform (SDP), which includes the QNX Neutrino Realtime Operating System and the QNX Momentics® Tool Suite.

The QNX SDP is complemented by QNX® Hypervisor, QNX® OS for Safety, QNX® Hypervisor for Safety, QNX® Acoustics Management Platform and QNX® Platform for Digital Cockpits and other products.

To support BlackBerry UES products, the Company offers the BlackBerry Endpoint ISV Technology Integration program featuring an application programming interface (“API”) development platform that enables developers and ISVs to develop robust extensible security integrations for BlackBerry UES, creating results-based offerings for targeted use cases.

Completed integrations are shared with the user community and promoted to market partners and AWS Marketplace opportunities.

During fiscal 2021, the Company launched the beta program for its Spark SDK, a new in-app protection solution powered by the Company’s enterprise security assessment framework.

The Spark SDK enables mobile app developers to enhance their iOS and Android applications with a rich set of security capabilities to prevent device, application or user level attacks.

The Company also expanded its developer partner program with the introduction of the BlackBerry AtHoc Development Partner Program, which invites partners to integrate with the BlackBerry AtHoc service and allows them to create alerts based on more event types or to leverage alerting capabilities based on critical events from within other systems.

The Company also offers BlackBerry® Spark Communications Services to application developers to integrate the secure messaging, voice and video capabilities of BBM Enterprise into their applications and services.

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The Company does not rely primarily on patents or other intellectual property rights to protect or establish its market position;

however, it is prepared to enforce its intellectual property rights in certain technologies when attempts to negotiate mutually

agreeable licenses are not successful.

however, it is prepared to enforce its intellectual property rights in certain technologies when attempts to negotiate mutually agreeable licenses are not successful.

The Company also enters into inbound licensing agreements related to technology and intellectual property rights, including agreements to obtain rights that may be necessary to produce and sell products.

Social and Environmental Regulations

The Company’s operations are subject to established and evolving regulation under various provincial, state, federal and international laws relating to environmental protection, the proliferation of hazardous substances, and social issues such as privacy, conflict minerals, human trafficking and slavery.

Regulatory Environment

Foreign and domestic laws and regulations apply to many aspects of the Company’s business.

The Company collects and uses a wide variety of information for various purposes in its business, including to help ensure the integrity of its services and to provide features and functionality to customers.

This aspect of the Company’s business is subject to a broad array of evolving privacy and data protection laws, including the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, the proposed Canadian Consumer Privacy Protection Act, regional privacy frameworks such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Privacy Framework, and national and state laws within the United States, including the California Privacy Rights Act.

These laws impose strict operational requirements and can provide for significant penalties for non-compliance.

Elements of these evolving laws and regulations, as well as their interpretation and enforcement, remain unclear and the Company may be required to modify its practices to comply with them in the future.

The Company is also subject to numerous international trade laws and regulations, including, without limitation, tariffs, trade sanctions, export controls and technology transfer restrictions, as well as anti-corruption legislation such as the U.S.

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Canada’s Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act.

Additionally, the Company is subject to domestic and international laws relating to environmental protection and the proliferation of hazardous substances.

In parts of Europe, North America, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region, the Company is obligated to comply with substance restrictions, packaging regulations, energy efficiency ratings and certain product take-back and recycling requirements, principally for the BlackBerry Radar business.

In addition, a growing list of jurisdictions have enacted social responsibility regulations such as the U.K.

Modern Slavery Act and the conflict minerals provisions of the U.S.

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act which require the Company to comply with certain due diligence and disclosure obligations.

Additionally, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) took effect in May 2018 and applies to the Company’s products and services that are offered to European customers and customers with European operations who must comply with the GDPR.

The GDPR includes operational compliance requirements for companies that receive or process personal information of data subjects of the European Union and can provide for significant penalties for non-compliance depending on the nature of the violation.

These and other similar laws may become more stringent over time, may come into force in more jurisdictions where the Company operates and may require the Company to incur additional compliance costs.

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act also requires the Company to comply with certain due diligence and disclosure obligations with respect to the use of conflict minerals.

Furthermore, the Company may be subject to a variety of local laws unknown to the Company in foreign jurisdictions where customers are located.

Any actual or perceived failure to comply with these requirements may result in, among other things, revocation of required licenses or registrations, loss of approved status, private litigation, regulatory or governmental investigations, administrative enforcement actions, sanctions, civil and criminal liability, and constraints on the Company’s operations.

It is also possible that current or future laws or regulations could be interpreted or applied in a manner that would prohibit, alter, or impair the Company’s existing or planned products and services, or that could require the Company to undertake costly, time-consuming or otherwise burdensome compliance measures.

Corporate Responsibility

The Company observes the highest ethical standards in its operations and has adopted policies and practices that require the same of its business partners.

The Company’s business is based on trust, and the Company maintains its position as a global leader in data security and privacy by developing new technologies, complying with established and evolving regulatory frameworks, and adhering to industry best practices.

See also “Ethical Business Conduct and Code of Business Standards and Principles” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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To honor this commitment, the Company maintains a variety of programs to identify, execute and maintain sustainable initiatives and to reduce the environmental impact of its products throughout the product lifecycle.

In fiscal 2020, the Company joined the United Nations Global Compact (“UNGC”) and committed to the ten principles of the UNGC and to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are relevant to the Company’s business.

In its procurement activities, the Company engages with its suppliers to conduct due diligence into the source of the so-called “conflict minerals” (which currently include the minerals from which gold, tantalum, tin, and tungsten are derived) that are necessary to the functionality or production of the Company’s hardware products, principally for the BlackBerry Radar business.

The Company also seeks to make a positive impact in the communities in which it operates by investing in strategic charitable partnerships, supporting charitable endeavours by employees, and building community relationships through local offices.

The Company has formalized a number of policies to reflect its commitment to responsible business practices, including a Privacy Policy, Supplier Code of Conduct, Human Rights Policy and Supplier Diversity Policy, and periodically issues a corporate responsibility report.

Through the report, the Company provides visibility on its corporate responsibility performance such as its corporate carbon footprint and approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as reflected in its annual submission to CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project).

The Company has formalized a number of policies to reflect its commitment to responsible business practices, including a Privacy Policy, Supplier Code of Conduct, Human Rights Policy, Equal Employment Policy and Supplier Diversity Policy, and periodically issues a corporate responsibility report.

Through the report, the Company provides visibility on its environmental, social and governance initiatives such as mitigating its corporate carbon footprint and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving water sanitation and fostering diversity.

These documents and policies relating to the Company’s corporate responsibility initiatives can be viewed on the Company’s website at https://www.blackberry.com/us/en/company/corporate-responsibility and are not incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Information about our Executive Officers

The Company made two executive officer appointments during fiscal 2020, naming Steve Rai as Chief Financial Officer and Steven Capelli as Chief Revenue Officer.

The Company made two executive officer appointments during fiscal 2021, naming Tom Eacobacci as President and Marjorie Dickman as Chief Government Affairs and Public Policy Officer.

The following table sets forth the name, province or state, and country of residence of each executive officer of the Company and their respective positions and offices held with the Company and their principal occupations during the last five years.

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Executive Chair/Director (since 2013)

Steven Capelli

California, USA Chief Revenue Officer Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, BlackBerry Limited (2017 to 2019);

Corporate Director (2013 to 2016)

California, USA

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General Counsel, Calypso Technology (2017 to 2018)

Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Advent Software (2002 to 2015)

Marjorie Dickman Washington D.C., USA

Chief Government Affairs and Public Policy Officer Global Director and Associate General Counsel, IoT and Automated Driving Policy, Intel (2017-2020);

Global Director and Managing Counsel, IoT and Automated Driving Policy, Intel (2015-2017)

Thomas Eacobacci Florida, USA

President, Americas, Citrix (2018-2020);

VP Sales Strategy & Operations, Citrix (2014-2017)

Sai Yuen (Billy) Ho

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Ontario, Canada Chief Financial Officer Deputy Chief Financial Officer (2019), Vice President and Corporate Controller (2014-2019)

Nita White-Ivy California, USA Executive Vice President, Human Resources

Nita White-Ivy California, USA Chief Human Resources Officer

California, USA Chief Marketing Officer Senior Vice President, Marketing, BlackBerry Limited (2014 to 2017)

As of February 29, 2020, the Company had 3,647 full-time and 21 part-time employees.

Human Capital

The Company’s 3,497 employees as of February 28, 2021 work as a team in 21 countries worldwide, of which approximately 51% are in Canada, 32% are in the U.S., and the remaining 17% are outside of North America.

The Company offers employees a fair, equitable and competitive total rewards program, designed to recognize and reward both individual and company performance.

The Company provides a range of financial and benefit programs such as its employee share purchase program, employee recognition programs, retirement savings plans, family-friendly leave policies, health and wellness programs, employee and family assistance program, as well as corporate discounts, all designed to support the overall wellness of the Company’s employees and their families.

The Company embraces a diverse and inclusive workplace, providing a welcoming environment in which every individual is valued and respected, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, veteran status, disability status or any other protected element of diversity.

The Company recognizes diversity, equity and inclusion as business imperatives and commits to attract, develop, and retain the best and brightest talent.

The Company strives to maintain an environment where people are valued, have a sense of belonging, and feel they can bring their authentic selves to work, every day.

The Company is committed to maintaining a respectful and productive work environment free from discrimination and harassment, supported by diversity and inclusion unconscious bias training, outreach and partnership programs like the Company’s Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and Indigenous students awards programs, and development opportunities such as the Taking the Stage program for female and aspiring leaders.

The Company does not tolerate, condone, or ignore workplace discrimination or harassment or any unlawful behavior and investigates all complaints regarding such conduct in a timely manner.

The Company believes career development is unique and personal for each employee.

The Company offers career development and growth in many forms such as job shadowing, job rotation, stretch assignments, enhanced scope or responsibility, networking, lateral movement, promotions, and volunteering.

The Company encourages opportunities for employees to broaden their scope and understanding of the business, and to build additional skills to attain their career aspirations.

Employees are supported in their growth and development through the Company’s tuition and educational reimbursement programs, subsidies for professional association memberships, global mentorship program, career planning services, and various training programs.

The Company is honored that its determination to support smart, dedicated, creative employees who are driven to succeed has been recognized through numerous awards, including Best & Brightest Companies to Work For (2016 - 2020), Best & Brightest Companies in Wellness (2016 - 2020), Canada’s Top 100 Employers for Young People, Canada’s Top 100 Greenest Employers (2016 - 2020), among others.

The Company also takes pride in its award-winning paid co-op and intern student program, through which the Company invests in the personal and professional development of the next generation of BlackBerry talent.

Building upon its culture of teamwork, the Company is a proud and committed civic leader.

BlackBerry employees are passionate, mobilized and empowered by their involvement in corporate-run community initiatives to actively participate in volunteer activities and environmentally friendly initiatives where they live and work.

Together with its team of community-minded employees, the Company believes there is great potential to make lasting local impacts.

Available Information

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Information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

As of March 1, 2020, the Company is filing reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) as a domestic issuer instead of a foreign private issuer.

Prior to that date, the Company was a foreign private issuer and, in compliance with SEC regulations, filed its interim financial statements on Form 6-K and its Annual Report on Form F-40.

As of March 1, 2020, the Company began reporting with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) as a domestic issuer instead of a foreign private issuer.

Prior to that date, the Company was a foreign private issuer and, in compliance with SEC regulations, furnished its interim financial statements on Form 6-K and filed its Annual Report on Form 40-F.

The Company continues to be a reporting issuer subject to continuous disclosure obligations under applicable Canadian securities laws.

Access to our Annual Reports on Form 10-K and 40-F, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and 6-K, Supplemental Financial Information, Earnings Press Release, Transcripts and amendments to these reports filed with or furnished to the SEC may be obtained free of charge through the Investors section of our website at www.blackberry.com/ca/en/company/investors as soon as is reasonably practical after we electronically file or furnish these reports.

Access to our Annual Reports on Form 10-K and 40-F, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and 6-K, Current Reports on Form 8-K, supplemental financial information, earnings press releases, and amendments to these reports filed with or furnished to the SEC may be obtained free of charge as soon as is reasonably practical after we electronically file or furnish them through the Investors section of our website at www.blackberry.com/ca/en/company/investors.

In addition, our filings with the SEC may be accessed through the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and our filings with the Canadian Securities Administrators (“CSA”) may be accessed through the CSA’s System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (“SEDAR”) at www.sedar.com.

Except for the documents specifically incorporated by reference into this Annual Report, information contained on the SEC or CSA websites is not incorporated by reference in the Annual Report on Form 10-K and should not be considered to be a part of the Annual Report.

Except for the documents specifically incorporated by reference into this Annual Report, information contained on the SEC or CSA

websites is not incorporated by reference in the Annual Report on Form 10-K and should not be considered to be a part of the Annual Report.

All statements made in any of our securities filings, including all forward-looking statements or information, are made as of the date of the document in which the statement is included, and we do not assume or undertake any obligation to update any of those statements or documents unless we are required to do so by applicable law.

Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.

What changed 10-K

Item 1. Business