But it’s possible that they’re wrong and that in a couple of years the company could emerge as an important player.
It’s certainly true that the delays in releasing the Blackberry 10 platform has seriously wounded the smartphone pioneer and the strategy of chucking out a series of identical handsets aimed at social media users has been a disaster.
And yes, it’s unlikely that they’ll ever again be a major player in retail smartphones.
But there are other, smaller markets out there which could provide Blackberry with enough custom and years to rebuild its reputation and standing.
One thing Blackberry does better than all competitors is the wireless transfer of secure data, and there are a lot of potential customers out there for whom this, not the sexiness of a handset or the availability of social media apps, is the killer feature.
In London the Metropolitan Police is looking at equipping al 34,000 police officers with mobile data devices on which they can process their paperwork, eliminating the need to return to the station and fill in forms.
Blackberry is already trusted by major police forces and the Met’s iPlod initiative is exactly the sort of market in which it could leverage its experience and know-how to develop a solid, secure and scalable solution.
And of course many banks and large scale financial institutions plus Government departments still prefer the known stability of a Blackberry over the likes of iPhone and Android.
Only today the firm announced the Blackberry 10 platform has been approved by NATO for use in sending and receiving classified communications up to the “Restricted” level.
These markets may be relatively small and niche, but they all require the same absolute assurance of a secure and malware free platform, and they have enough areas of overlap that Blackberry could service them with a single software platform and small range of devices.
So while the firm probably isn’t going to rise phoenix-like with the next must-have iPhone beater, there’s plenty of scope for it to still be here 10 years from, trusted and relied on by major brands and public services.