Blackberry to give up building their own devices

Jonny Kansas

Administrator
Staff member
Rescue Squad
Joined
Jan 21, 2010
Messages
16,740
Reaction score
7,355
Location
Michigan's Upper Peninsula
Website
www.google.com
Current Phone Model
Pixel XL
Twitter
jonny_ks
blackberry-priv-5.jpg
In a move that may or may not surprise you at this point in the game, Blackberry has announced that they will no longer be making their own phones. Instead, they will focus on security and software products and outsource the manufacturing of Blackberry branded devices to third-parties.

We've already seen a product of this plan with the DTEK 50, which was basically a rebranded Alcatel Idol 4.

If you were surprised by this news, estimates claim that Blackberry held only .1% of the market in the second quarter, selling just over 400,000 units.

It's a bold move. While Blackberry's software has been known for years as being secure and the top choice for businesses and governments until recent years, for many, that software went hand-in-hand with their hardware.

However, it's safe to say that this move won't count Blackberry in or out of the mobile market either way. Rather, it will shift their focus to what some would say they do best, software development. They've already made the Blackberry Hub available to all Android Marshmallow (and above) devices and are working on products for IoT (Internet of Things) devices.

Whether we'll see an influx of people walking around with Blackberry devices remains to be seen, but it's certain that we'll still see their name in apps and software on other devices, at least in the near future.

Source: BlackBerry says it's done designing and building its own phones

Where do you stand with this announcement?

Do Android users even care about Blackberry anymore? Sales figures point to "not really."

Have you tried Blackberry Hub on your Motos, Samsungs, LGs, or others? Do you have thoughts on it?

Hit the comments below to sound off!
 

liftedplane

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2011
Messages
2,303
Reaction score
793
Location
Washington State
Not really surprised. Blackberry is what got me into smart phones, but they SERIOUSLY dropped the ball when hardware (CPU, GPU, RAM etc) took off and they lagged behind. Hoping they could sell devices on their name alone. That may have worked for a short time but like I've said before, once I read that android could emulate SNES NES GBA GBC etc etc I jumped ship... and I've never looked back.

Hopefully they can do this right.
 

PereDroid

Diamond Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2010
Messages
5,908
Reaction score
3,681
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
Current Phone Model
Moto Turbo 2
I disagree. It wasn't hardware that killed them, it was the lousy software. The first Storm was a good device, it was just boring as .... to use, compared to Android or iOS.

I'm surprised they even sold 400K. Who is buying these?
 

Sajo

Diamond Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Messages
20,692
Reaction score
16,820
Location
Tennessee
Current Phone Model
Pixel 7 Pro
Blackberry Hub is available on Moto phones? What would I do with it?

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 

Sajo

Diamond Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Messages
20,692
Reaction score
16,820
Location
Tennessee
Current Phone Model
Pixel 7 Pro
I disagree. It wasn't hardware that killed them, it was the lousy software. The first Storm was a good device, it was just boring as .... to use, compared to Android or iOS.

I'm surprised they even sold 400K. Who is buying these?
I know a few government employees that use Blackberry phones, that used to be the norm. Now they are slowly switching to iPhones since they are supposed to be "more secure".

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 

xeene

Gold Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2010
Messages
3,479
Reaction score
1,004
Location
detroit, usa
Next step is to sell their patents and software to 3rd party and shutter their doors. Sometime in 2017-2018 is my guess.
 

liftedplane

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2011
Messages
2,303
Reaction score
793
Location
Washington State
Next step is to sell their patents and software to 3rd party and shutter their doors. Sometime in 2017-2018 is my guess.
Just goes to show what happens if you don't keep with the times.
I disagree. It wasn't hardware that killed them, it was the lousy software. The first Storm was a good device, it was just boring as .... to use, compared to Android or iOS.

I'm surprised they even sold 400K. Who is buying these?
Part of why the software was so boring was because the hardware couldn't compete with flashy apple or Android though. I loved my storm 2, great concept... A clicky touch screen. I loved it, but the software that attempted to do cool stuff like android (a gbc emulator) or any of the games I had just couldn't play anywhere near as well.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
 

dezymond

Tech Support Mod
Staff member
Premium Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2009
Messages
12,049
Reaction score
1,479
Location
Bay Area, California
Current Phone Model
Google Pixel
Not surprised that they're calling it quits in the hardware game, but I am surprised they had waited this long.
 
Top