BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ: BBRY) is launching two models of Android devices, after the failure of its first ever Blackberry-Android device. The new models will determine the fate of the company in the hand mobile industry.
Blackberry Priv
In October 2015, the company launched its first Blackberry-Android device called Blackberry Priv. The smartphone offered an Android OS, v5.1.1 software with a 32 GB storage and microSD card slot.
The camera of the phone was 18 megapixels and a 3Gb memory Ram, with a simple model that included a physical keyboard with a touchscreen.
Even though the device generated a lot of publicity because of Blackberry’s and Android first union, it didn’t succeed on the market because of price ranges.
The price of the phone was around $700, a higher price range that Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus or Samsung’s Galaxy S6 series.
John Chen, Blackberry’s CEO, admitted the price range for the smartphone was too high.
“The fact that we came out with a high-end phone was probably not as wise as it should have been. A lot of enterprise customers have said to us ‘I want to buy your phone but $700 is a little too steep for me’,” said Chen to The National.
New Blackberry-Android Models
At the beginnings of April information of the new devices leaked on the web, assuring the company would announce its new Android smartphones that carried the name of BlackBerry “Hamburg” and Blackberry “Rome”
Although the leaked information is yet to be proven, Chen says that two mid-price range Android/Blackberry smartphone will be emerging in the market during 2016.
According to the CEO’s statements, one of the models will include a physical keyboard while the other will feature a full touchscreen.
Learning the lesson the BlackBerry Priv left to the company, these new models will feature lower prices to generate more public and buyers.
The company’s CEO has announced it is inevitable for the company to go out of the smartphone market if these models don’t work.
“If I can’t make it profitable because the market won’t let me, then I’ll go out of the handset business. I love our handset, but we need to make money,” assured Chen.
It is yet to be seen if these new BlackBerry-Android models will work in the current smartphone market.
Source: Tech Times