BlackBerry announced it would halt in-house production of smartphones, marking the end of an era for the once-dominant Canadian tech firm. Handsets with the BlackBerry name will be produced under license by PT Tiphone Mobile Indonesia Tbk, a statement by the firms said. BlackBerry, which a decade ago was among the world's largest smartphone makers, has seen its global market share slip to less than one percent as Apple and Android devices have dominated. As the market shifted, BlackBerry has sought to refocus on software, including security applications, and the latest announcement takes the company out of the handset market entirely.
The Waterloo, Ontario-based company has made several efforts in recent years to find new customer niches as its smartphone handset sales continued to stagnate in the face of competition. It had hoped its first Android-operating smartphone launched last year would help restore the company to its former glory. But sales were lackluster.
Earlier this year, BlackBerry announced it was killing off its Classic smartphone with a physical keyboard -- once the workhorse of the smartphone market -- as part of a modernization of its lineup. By moving out of hardware, BlackBerry can focus on its various business services such as messaging, cybersecurity and tracking connected devices.
