India, Nov. 21 -- The revival of BlackBerry is a classic case study in resilience. A company once on a slippery slope found its footing again through one strategic acquisition, not to reclaim its smartphone glory, but to reinvent itself in an entirely different industry. BlackBerry's comeback story began long before the world stopped buying its phones. In 2010, as its handset business faltered, the company acquired QNX from Harman, a move that seemed small at the time but now reads like a masterstroke.

Harman had used QNX extensively for automotive infotainment, but BlackBerry recognised something much bigger. QNX was a real-time, safety-focused operating system built for mission-critical environments. That one acquisition enabled BlackB...