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BlackBerry Says It's Done Designing and Building Its Own Phones (theverge.com)
BlackBerry today reported its fiscal second-quarter sales and said that it will stop making its iconic smartphones and focus on its software business. The Verge adds: BlackBerry has announced that it plans to stop making its own phones as the struggling company continues to focus on its software and security products. This is far from the end of BlackBerry devices, the production of which will be outsourced to third-party manufacturers -- as was the case with the company's recent DTEK 50, a clone of Alcatel's Idol 4 with BlackBerry branding. "The company plans to end all internal hardware development and will outsource that function to partners," said CEO John Chen in a statement. Elsewhere he stated: "We are reaching an inflection point with our strategy. Our financial foundation is strong, and our pivot to software is taking hold." This isn't surprising news considering BlackBerry's ongoing struggle in the mobile market. According to estimates from Gartner, the company claimed just 0.1 percent of the market in the second quarter, equating to sales of some 400,400 units. The last BlackBerry phone manufactured by the company was the Priv, the company's first Android-powered device, released November last year.
That surprised almost no one. Except the last guy in my office who still uses a BB.
I like my Z10 and Z30. I really like BB OS 10. I love the way messages are organized in "Blackberry Hub"
But if Blackberry is moving to an OS they don't write, on hardware they don't design or build - is there any reason to buy their stuff any more?
Sad. I've had a Blackberry in my pocket since the 5790, a three line pager with the iconic keyboard. :(
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Mark Twain
ROTFLMAO!!!!!
BlackBerry should've died the moment their CEO schizophrenically boasted about how they let law enforcement pry into BlackBerry devices while simultaneously denying that there's a backdoor.
"This is far from the end of BlackBerry devices..."
I suspect it's not that far.
#DeleteChrome
"BlackBerry CEO John Chen has responded, ... to media reports that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police force has used a “global encryption key” to intercept and decrypt over one million “electronic communications on BlackBerry devices (Pin to Pin messaging)” between 2010 and 2012.... “When it comes to doing the right thing in difficult situations, BlackBerry’s guiding principle has been to do what is right for the citizenry, within legal and ethical boundaries,” writes Chen. “We have long been clear in our stance that tech companies as good corporate citizens should comply with reasonable lawful access requests. I have stated before that we are indeed in a dark place when companies put their reputations above the greater good.”
http://www.cantechletter.com/2016/04/blackberry-ceo-john-chen-confirms-rcmp-cooperation/
So, any idea that you will get to challenge any search warrant for your data goes out the window. People like Chan will be good citizens and hand over the encryption key without challenge, in secret, behind your back, and behind the backs of the courts, for the greater good of citizenry. And of course with no limits, since that key covers all his customers, not just Canadian ones, not just in Canada, not just the few involved in this investigation, the Mounties took millions of messages.
And do any of the people wrongly investigated get to learn about the messages they took? Or the legal basis? No? Thank you Chen, I can't wait to not buy your next employers products.
Just what we need, more Android phones!
Am I the only one who remembers QNX? They used to have a decent desktop OS for x86 that booted on a Pentium II 450mhz/128MB machine in about 45 seconds. It had a full fledged GUI (Photon), and was approaching BeOS levels of speed. From what I've seen of the kernel source, it's pretty well written too.
What did Blackberry do with it?
Well, they turned it into a tablet OS that took 5+ minutes to boot up on a 1ghz processor with 1GB of RAM.
How did they fuck that up so badly? Why haven't they revisited QNX and either used what they already have (instead of their own half assed GUI slapped on top of that)? Why did they just give up and switch to Android?
More importantly, what do they have to offer in a sea of Android devices? Are they going to give Android the same treatment they did for QNX, and turn it into a bloated steaming pile of junk?
I don't know why they couldn't just continue to make Android devices with Blackberry features. The quality of their cellphone and software was superb compared to most Android device manufactures. I highly doubt that selling QNX can make as much money as selling smart phones.
The market said you are done building phones.
Looks like I'll be keeping my Q10 until it dies. I was really hoping they'd produce a non-slider Android with a physical keyboard before throwing in the towel.
cuz folks are just about done buying them!
I wish blackberry would create a decent keyboard tightly integrated with a protective case to add to my android or iPhone. I miss physical phone keyboards very much.
very sad, that BlaskBerry losing their popularity. It was a good alternative to the iPhone, but at this point Apple has gone far away in smartphone technology. Hopefully in the future Blackberry can still return their smartphones on the market
...probably because it's precisely what I've been saying they should do since the first android hit the shelves. They were outclassed, but they had a great corporate security reputation. They should have ditched the hardware and partnered up with an android maker to provide a corporate secure device, complete with the software backend.
Instead, they sat around pretending their market position could never be threatened, and consequently got left in the dust.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
It was a good alternative to the iPhone, but at this point Apple has gone far away in smartphone technology.
That hasn't been true for a long time if indeed it ever was true. Not just with regard to Apple either. Android phones surpassed Blackberry phones a long time ago as well. Heck even Microsoft's offering are arguably better even if they haven't been well received in the market.
Hopefully in the future Blackberry can still return their smartphones on the market
"Hopefully"? Why hopefully? They were an arrogant and stagnant company with products that couldn't keep up with the competition. They threw the privacy and security of their users under the bus to cater to governments around the world. While I certainly welcome more competition in smartphones I don't think it can or should come from Blackberry.
BlackBerry Says It's Done...
I find this decision difficult to understand. I was forced to get a BlackBerry for work, ended up with a Z30. The hardware seems decent, but the absolute worst thing has always been the software. It's like the people designing the OS have never used a smartphone before. I can see the potential usefulness in some of the software for some people, but as a whole I consider their software to be their weakest point. I only have to charge this thing once a week, because I hate using it so much (ugh, remind me again why I was forced to get this thing).
no need for the extra words. I stopped reading
"Blackberry says It's Done"
There. That is much more concise. AND Accurate.
Good riddance. IMHO, Blackberry can't leave the market fast enough.
BlackBerry CEO 'Disturbed' By Apple's Hard Line On Encryption
I'd half expect to hear the same thing from Samsung any day now.
Too bad. The Priv seems to be the last physical keyboard Android phone. Prior to the Priv, I had a Droid 4 which I liked even better (bigger physical keyboard still).
Unfortunately, people like me who need to compose longer emails while on the road are a very small minority. Most people are happy typing one line "text speak" with their fingers or talking to the phone. That's not good enough for me.
Not to mention that the onscreen keyboard takes away from screen real estate.
That BB management has taken 7 or 8 years to figure out what seemingly everyone else has known for years. The release of iPhone started it but once Android took off BB was done. All that money wasted developing new BB phones and then even a BB Android phone. Hubris I guess. Microsoft didn't get it either when they went and bought the Sidekick and then Nokia.
I know that 400 units is not a lot, but you don't have to state it twice, and if you do, keep a space after the comma.
Sounds a lot like Homer Simpsons boxing strategy where he lets the other guy punch him in the face...
"OK, we've successfully been totally destroyed in the global mobile phone market, exactly how we had planned to do. Next step, world domination! Muhuhahaha!"
Now that they're letting a third party do it, any semblance of quality will cease to exist.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.