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“Nobody said anything about it. But the more important thing is that we expect year-over-year growth every quarter next year.”

BlackBerry is giving guidance that they expect total revenue growth between 23 and 27 per cent in the coming year, with further growth expected the following year as Cylance moves to profitability and the company’s Spark internet-of-things platform hits the market.

For the second quarter in a row, BlackBerry recorded no revenue from handset sales.

Chen said growth being driven almost entirely by software and licensing is a clear mark that the company’s turnaround is over, and a new phase is underway.

“When you deem a turnaround successful, that means the business has to be growing. Now, the growing business is usually not the same business that got the company into trouble in the first place,” he said.

“From a company that does US$6 billion in revenue but losing money and it’s burning cash, to a company that is over US$1 billion in software (revenue) making money and generating cash, I’d say those would be on my resume.”

On Friday’s earnings call, the Cylance acquisition dominated the questions, as the company works to incorporate the artificial intelligence cybersecurity technology into other lines of business — namely, the company’s Unified Endpoint Management enterprise system, and the QNX automotive operating system.

Chen said one of his big jobs for the coming year is incorporating Cylance into other parts of the BlackBerry business, while still maintaining the high growth in the newly acquired company’s core business.