BlackBerry Isn’t Out of the Smartphone Business Yet Michael Kwan September 28, 2016 News You can’t say that you didn’t see this day coming. Once upon a time, BlackBerry was the proud and pompous king of the castle. These days, it’s barely a security-minded pauper. Following a fiscal second quarter loss of $372 million earlier today, the company has now announced it is no longer making smartphones. But that doesn’t mean we won’t see another BlackBerry-branded device. It’s a little more complicated than that. News of the death of the Blackberry smartphone business have been grossly overstated. Instead, what it means is that the company is going to stop any internal hardware development and simply focus on the smartphone side of things. The hardware design will be outsourced to partners, according to CEO John Chen, as this will allow them to “reduce capital requirements and enhance return on invested capital.” We already saw this plan in action with the DTEK50 from earlier this summer, a device that is basically a rebranded Alcatel. The leaked DTEK60 Android smartphone, which will follow in the footsteps of the DTEK50, looks to be continuing that trend too. You might recall when Chen said that they’d get out of the smartphone business if they couldn’t find a way to make it profitable again. Now, he’s making good on that promise. If the rebranded phone business doesn’t work out, I wouldn’t be surprised if BlackBerry backs out of that too. Via BGR Share This With The World!
