BlackBerry Ceases In-House Smartphone Production
Key Takeaways
- BlackBerry ends all in-house smartphone production
- Future devices will be developed by external partners
- Company to focus on software and security services
BlackBerry Ends Smartphone Manufacturing
BlackBerry has officially announced that it will cease producing its own smartphones. Going forward, any hardware projects will be handled by external manufacturing partners. This decision marks the conclusion of an era for the brand, which was once celebrated for its distinctive design and secure services.
The shift comes as BlackBerry faces significant challenges in the current touch-screen dominated market. In 2011, the company sold a peak of 52.3 million units, but in the most recent fiscal year that number dropped to just 3.2 million. Even after launching the high-end Priv model in 2015, which ran on Android rather than its proprietary BB10 platform, BlackBerry struggled to gain meaningful market share.
John Chen, BlackBerry's chief executive and executive chairman, explained the rationale: "The company plans to end all internal hardware development and will outsource that function to our partners. We are focusing on software development, including security and applications." Under this new strategy, BlackBerry will continue to provide software and services but will no longer design or build phones in-house.
