One of the oldest smartphone brand, BlackBerry, may again run into struggling waters as TCL decides not to renew the license. TCL will stop manufacturing and selling BlackBerry devices from August 31, 2020, after which BlackBerry will again look for buyers. In a tweet posted by BlackBerry Mobile, the partnership with TCL Communication will end on August 31, 2020, however, existing devices will be provided with support until August 31, 2022, the brand the confirmed. TCL released some noteworthy BlackBerry smartphones including the KEY series which ran Android and even offered some exclusive security features. As noted, BlackBerry will again look for buyers, but we may not see any BlackBerry devices for a while.
TCL and BlackBerry Paternership Ends: What it Means to Consumers?
Similar to Nokia, BlackBerry is also one of the much loved mobile brands across the globe. Due to the resurgence of Chinese brands in India and other countries, the charm of BlackBerry faded away. It was in December 2016 when BlackBerry decided to sell its license to TCL Communication. Since then, TCL launched some decent phones under BlackBerry brand like BlackBerry KEYone in 2017, KEY2 in 2018 and so on. That said, these smartphones failed to appeal to the audience, thanks to the steep pricing they were offered for.
While TCL took care BlackBerry license across global markets, it was Optiemus Infracom which launched the phones in Asian countries like India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. It will be interesting to see whether Optiemus Infracom will continue launching BlackBerry phones in the coming days. Even in India, BlackBerry saw poor reception because it went against the likes of Xiaomi, Samsung, Honor, Oppo and Vivo back then.
Future of BlackBerry is Uncertain at the Moment
BlackBerry used to manufacture its own phones until 2016, but the evergrowing competition in the smartphone sector made the brand sell its license to TCL and other partners. With TCL not renewing BlackBerry license, we may not see any new phones with BlackBerry naming in the coming weeks. There is no official update from BlackBerry as well. If the company fails to find any new partner, we may see BlackBerry coming up with its own phones again after August 2020.
Existing BlackBerry smartphone users will get support until August 31, 2022, according to a press statement released by the company.
