BlackBerry stresses security, privacy
TORONTO— BlackBerry Ltd. has released a new mid-range touchscreen Android smartphone that focuses heavily on privacy as the clock ticks down on CEO John Chen’s promise to return the waning hardware business to profitability by September.
The Waterloo, Ont.-based-company unveiled the BlackBerry D TE K 50 in a live virtual event Tuesday morning.
The DTEK50 is being billed as the “most secure Android smartphone” and features the BlackBerry hub, a 5.2” HD display, a smart keyboard, an eight-megapixel front camera and a 13-megapixel rear-camera. It will sell for $299 US.
It’s the second Android-powered phone for BlackBerry, which stopped manufacturing phones with its own operating system, but will continue to support and update BlackBerry 10. The first Android phone, the Priv, didn’t sell well because it was too expensive.
“With an increase in cybercrime on smartphones, people need to recognize that the private details of their lives — where they live, their bank info, pictures of their kids — are at risk on their personal device,” BlackBerry chief security officer David Kleidermacher said in a statement.
“You wouldn’t leave the doors of your house unlocked at night. Having a smartphone that doesn’t take your privacy seriously is the equivalent.”
Chen previously said the company is also developing a higher-end phone expected to feature the keyboard loved by BlackBerry diehards, but it’s not clear when it will be released.
Th eDT E K 50 comes at across roads for BlackBerry. For the first time last quarter, it made more money from its growing software business than its smartphone business, prompting repeated calls from investors for it to ditch the hardware business altogether.
Once a symbol of power and prestige, its handsets are now perceived as dated—U.S. President Barack Obama “finally” ditched his this summer, and the U.S. Senate is also switching to other devices once its BlackBerry stockpile runs out.
But Chen refuses to give up on the handsets that still have loyal business and government clients who value security. He’s convinced he can make money in the handset segment by the third quarter of fiscal 2017, he told reporters in June. (It lost $21 million US last quarter.)
To offset flagging sales—Black Berry sold 500,000 handsets in the first fiscal quarter of 2017, down from a peak of 13 million in 2012 — BlackBerry plans to license aspects of the device, such as the hub or the antenna, to other manufactures.
Meantime, BlackBerry’s software business has landed big clients including the U.S. Department of Defence, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Coast Guard. These organizations will use the company’s enterprise mobile management system or its emergency mass notification system.