Who says BlackBerry is done with phones?
DUBAI — BlackBerry die-hards, it’s official: you can still expect smartphones from your favourite brand.
Amid reports swirling that the Canadian company is kicking the bucket when it comes to manufacturing devices, its top official in the region clarified that that is not exactly the case.
“We would like to make it clear: no, we’re not getting out of the smartphone business,” Mike Al Mefleh, senior director of product management and services at BlackBerry Mena and Turkey, told Khaleej Times in a one-on-one media briefing for its latest smartphone, the DTEK60. “We’re focusing on what we do best and what really matters when it comes to devices, which is software.”
Simply put, BlackBerry will no longer manufacture its own devices; rather, it will be collaborating with third parties to make them, complete with full licensing of its hardware and software — akin to what Google has done with its Nexus devices in the past; conversely, Google has started manufacturing its own smartphone, beginning with the Pixel, which was launched in October.
Company CEO John Chen has said that one more BlackBerry phone is in the pipeline — with the iconic keyboard. Many took this as a message that it would be the very last BlackBerry phone — although, apparently, this is not the case.
BlackBerry Middle East would not comment on its CEO’s words.
The BlackBerry DTEK60, launched in the UAE on Wednesday, is the company’s third smartphone powered by Google’s Android operating system. Positioned as a flagship device, the handset has significant upgrades from its predecessor, the DTEK50.
And the DTEK60 “perfectly” fits into BlackBerry’s new licensing strategy, Al Mefleh stressed.
In the DTEK60’s case, BlackBerry partnered with TCL to design and manufacture the hardware and integrate the former’s secure Android OS into it.
BlackBerry believes this strategy is the way forward: it will work with “trusted and highly-capable partners” to develop and distribute its hardware, while “continuing to support the BlackBerry handset brand and provide devices with the most secure software available”.
In a separate e-mailed statement to Khaleej Times, BlackBerry has set the ball rolling as it has, for starters, partnered with two manufacturers for this endeavour: Indonesia’s BB Merah Putih to manufacture, distribute and promote BlackBerry-branded devices; and India’s Emtek Group to accelerate and advance BlackBerry Messenger’s consumer business globally.