It is no secret that troubled Blackberry had given up on the smartphone market. Instead, Blackberry now tends to focus solely on software. Blackberry is counting on software being more profitable than making smartphones, a market in which they were too slow to react. They announced in September that any future smartphones would be outsourced.
Yesterday, a press release was made, stating that a deal had been struck with Chinese firm TCL Communication. The deal allowed TCL to produce Blackberry branded smartphones to most of the world, with some exceptions. These exceptions include Blackberry’s biggest markets, one of which is Indonesia. There is good reason for this though, as in September, their first outsourcing deal was struck with Indonesian firm, PT BB Merah Putih.
This leads to speculation that further outsourcing deals that cover the rest of the exceptions list are under talks. The list includes India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. Although it would be almost impossible for Blackberry to take a significant share of the smartphone market, it does keep the brand at least partially in the public eye.
It also means their software division is more likely to be a success, with the funds from these deals being able to be pumped right back into the software arm.
Blackberry won’t be completely silent in the smartphone production however. Blackberry will be providing their latest security and software features into the smartphones, and this also includes their messenger service.
It appears Blackberry aren’t going to go anywhere just yet, although I think it is safe to assume any impact in the smartphone market will go largely unnoticed. What these deals do achieve, at least if they’re successful, is provide them with a steady flow of income.
Maybe one day we’ll see Blackberry themselves delve back into the smartphone market. Hard to imagine, but it will be interesting to watch how they do going forward.
Would you ever consider buying a Blackberry device? Have you ever owned one?
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