BlackBerry: From smartphone pioneer to a struggling giant

BlackBerry will always be known as a smartphone pioneer. Together with Nokia, the old smartphone giant, these names will forever be known as the early movers in the mobile industry. The young generation may not remember the good old days but for the oldies (you and me), we’ll always look back to those times when cellular phones and smartphones first came out and texting was relatively new.

Nokia has been trying to make a comeback and so far, so good. Before the Finnish brand, there’s BlackBerry also trying struggling to stay afloat. It doesn’t give up. We don’t think the brand is bidding goodbye anytime soon especially now that it has established or at least made a step forward in the Android community.

We’ve always been interested in BlackBerry. We thought it was ending already because sales were quickly going down. It’s been rolling out Android phones but we have yet to see its share of the market. We doubt it achieved its impossible dream of shipping five million phones back in 2015.

BlackBerry PRIV

The BlackBerry PRIV was the first fully Android smartphone launched by the Canadian smartphone pioneer. We anticipated for the phone only to be disappointed by CEO John Chen when it first showed off the phone in a cringe-worthy interview. BlackBerry never closed its doors to Android but it took some time.

The industry first got a taste of BlackBerry Android when BlackBerry 10 was introduced. There’s also BBM for Android which reached 100 million downloads. BlackBerry once teamed up with Amazon for Android apps. Other related Android offers included the Blackberry SecuTABLE and the old BlackBerry Passport running Android Lollipop.

At one point, the company’s CEO didn’t confirm the Android phone direction but we soon saw the BlackBerry Venice which turned out to be the BlackBerry PRIV–described as a perfect mix of Android and BlackBerry. It was officially launched in October 2015 after several rumors and speculations: 64-bit chipset, 4K video recording, 21MP Sony IMX230 sensor, pre-registration page, and intro video.

BlackBerry promised mobile privacy and security with PRIV and we learned exactly how. We discovered the ‘edge’ features and soon, the phone was made available in Canada and the US. If you’re one of those who decided to get a PRIV, then you’ve probably used the BlackBerry Content Transfer app and were treated to those initiatives in managing Android security.

The BlackBerry PRIV was offered by T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T. We saw an unboxing video and a couple of promotional videos. We also learned the Priv’s display is easy to repair before the phone received its first software update including DTEK Camera, Hub, Contacts, and Keyboard for PRIV.

We’ve never received any numbers but the Priv sold well one quarter that the company remained in the hardware business. BlackBerry even planned on releasing midrange phones if things turned out well. It seemed okay as the brand reported a number of good news such as:

• improved BBM with better security and usability
• Blackberry Priv rated as one of the best devices camera-wise on DxoMark
• availability in India
• another security update
• free privacy and control features on BBM for Android
• Beta Program and Android 6.0 Marshmallow update
• discounted price in select key markets
• availability in Mexico via Amazon
• BBM Video call

BlackBerry ditched BlackBerry 10 and remained with Android. The company kept its promise of monthly Android Security updates. After a few months, sales of the BlackBerry Priv weren’t as promising but the company soon launched a new Android BlackBerry phone in the form of the DTEK 50. This one included the BlackBerry Hub+ Services, latest software update, and patch for QuadRooter vulnerabilities.

BlackBerry DTEK50, DTEK60, KEYOne, and Motion

BlackBerry officially ended smartphone production to outsource and focus on software. The brand simply outsourced production to smaller companies such as TCL. This moved helped BlackBerry focus on other areas, allowing the brand to launch more smartphones like the BlackBerry DTEK60, BlackBerry KEYOne, and just recently, the BlackBerry Motion as a full-touch smartphone.

BlackBerry still matters

Before 2017 kicked off, BlackBerry argued why its brand still mattered. It still does but we’re not quite sure until when. The PRIV’s two-year monthly updates just ended. It’s not even getting Nougat. Meanwhile, the KEYOne got a significant price cut for the holidays. We’re still anticipating the next KEYOne model especially since the brand signed a patent deal with BLU products last October.

Interestingly, BlackBerry KEYOne sales are doing well and is further expanding to other regions . We also heard of that plan by BlackBerry to license Secure OS to other phone makers.

We witnessed BlackBerry’s many efforts to market the KEYOne by strengthening the display after several complaints, launching the BlackBerry KEYOne Black Edition with 64GB storage and 4GB RAM in India, that BlackBerry KEYone Special Gold Plated Edition, Keyboard Amplified Manual Camera feature, updated BBM Messenger app for Android, and more keyboard options for KEYone.

Wrap-up

BlackBerry is a name to trust when it comes to mobile security. We never doubted its game plan but we want to see more from this brand. We don’t want it to just go but as with any other ailing company, it needs all the help it can get. We’re doing our part but we know the whole Android community can only do so much.

It’s not yet the end of an era for BlackBerry. We believe the smartphone pioneer has the potential to become big again. As to how, your guess is as good as mine.