The Blackberry comes in Android
Blackberry has come a long way, starting from its cool tiny two-way pager (BB 850) with a keyboard to the phones that run android now (Priv). Although, when Blackberry comes into the conversation, what pops into everyone’s mind is the QWERTY keyboard; its touchscreen phones were also not bad.
After the announcement made by the company’s CEO John S. Chen, it’s confirmed that Blackberry has stopped making or designing hardware. There have been extreme reactions from certain corners to Blackberry’s new strategic direction for mobility solutions, where many seem to be mourning, much like how things turned out when Nokia stopped selling its own phones.
What exactly is the situation?
In this scenario, it is important to understand how Blackberry is pitching itself in the coming time, post the announcement. First thing, Blackberry isn’t dead yet. Secondly, with the intent of cost-cutting, it will not make or design its own phones in the future but someone else will keep doing that.
“The company plans to end all internal hardware development and will outsource that function to partners”, Blackberry CEO John Chen has said in a statement.
This is not getting out of the devices business, it’s just simply adjusting the model for how Blackberry devices are brought to market. The company scrolls to play on the same line that Google played on with its Nexus-branded phones. Even Apple does not manufacture its own iPhones but outsources the job to Foxconn, however, it designs its own iPhones.
So what’s next?
The company has already started incorporating the strategy, even before the formal announcement. The recently launched DTEK50 is a classic example. According to reports, Blackberry has one more phone coming up soon that will be built and designed by TCL (Alcatel). The phone is expected to be called DTEK60.
The reports claim the new phone to have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor with 4GB RAM, a 21 MP camera and USB Type-C for charging and data syncing.
What about the users of last year’s Priv?
For the users of Blackberry’s 2015 release Priv, it’s going to be a concern whether the company will continue to support them or not, in case these units be damaged or broken – under warranty – will Blackberry provide after sales and necessary replacement? If yes, then for how long? These are the few questions that the company needs to answer.
