Chinese electronics group of companies, TCL, has announced that it will stop producing BlackBerry-branded smartphones in 2020. Although it is unclear if this decision will mark the end of the line for Blackberry handsets, TCL says at the end of August, it will no longer have rights to design, make or sell BlackBerry smartphones.
According to a post by the Canadian company on Twitter, “The future is bright for both TCL Communication and BlackBerry Limited, and we hope you will continue to support both as we move ahead on our respective paths.”
Since it dominated the market with its physical keyboard design about a decade ago, Blackberry’s share of the global smartphone market has fallen to virtually zero. And so, in a bid to revive its fortunes in a smartphone market dominated by Apple and Android-powered handsets, Canada-based BlackBerry had licensed its smartphone technology to TCL in 2016.
TCL unveiled Key2 in mid-2018, combining a physical keyboard with a 4.5-inch screen and powering it with the Google-backed Android operating system. However, the rise of Apple’s iOS and Android-powered handsets with touchscreens and apps prompted BlackBerry to abandon the market to concentrate on software and services.