TCL will no longer make BlackBerry phones

[Djole123]

Over the past few years, BlackBerry with TCL at its core have pushed out a few devices, including the KeyOne and Key2 devices, which have had mediocre success in business enviroments.

 

However, in a company tweet, TCL announced that by August 31st of this year, they will no longer have rights to design, manufacture or sell new BlackBerry devices on the market, although, they will still be at the forefront of customer support for these devices until August 31st of 2022.

 

 

I'm not sure what this means. Will TCL sell the BB trademark to yet another third party, or does this put the final nail in the coffin for BlackBerry's existence? What do you think? Is this the end of BlackBerry?

 

Source:

https://twitter.com/BlackBerry/status/1224333330834788352?s=19

https://9to5google.com/2020/02/03/blackberry-android-discontinued-2020/

[Devin92]

please just put the nail to the coffin... BB phone is nothing but overpriced low-spec junk with no obvious security advantage. as long as it uses android, the OS will spy on you anyway.

[TempestCatto]

I just bought a used BlackBerry Bold 9900 because ATT is going to shut down their 3g network next year, forcing me off of my Pantech P5000. I dont want a smartphone and the simplicity of these phones plays to my seemingly unique taste. Hopefully BB gets picked up by someone else, though I have my doubts. 

[Tristerin]

I got a bunch of Blackberry's given to me recently (work decommissioned them and everyone now on iPhone)

 

I jailbroke one, played with it for a bit and Im like....My 2012 Android daily driver phone is better.

[Tristerin]

1 minute ago, TempestCatto said:

I just bought a used BlackBerry Bold 9900 because ATT is going to shut down their 3g network next year, forcing me off of my Pantech P5000. I dont want a smartphone and the simplicity of these phones plays to my seemingly unique taste. Hopefully BB gets picked up by someone else, though I have my doubts. 

I just got some of these given to me by work.  I have my kids using them as Cameras lol.  If you are in the states I can mail you one.  (I know its a Bold just not sure the series can check when I get home)

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

finally, about damn time to kill it tcl has been beating a dead horse for years

[Derangel]

I legitimately forgot that Blackberry devices even still existed.

[divito]

I still maintain that I like BB10 OS better than Android. Some Android phones are finally getting around to gesture navigation that's closer to what BB10 had years before it, but it's taken far longer than I ever thought it would, and even then, there are some things I wish it had. One of the only saving graces is that BB made Hub for Android which is a good start, but it's still missing some key features that were in BB10.

BB definitely missed the boat to maintaining relevance and making regular consumers see all that they were doing; but their designs (as much as physical keyboards rock) and their specs never evolved fast enough for general consumers to discover and appreciate the software. While the Priv and Key1/Key2 were solid efforts, the specs were never enough for anyone to really get behind. Some will say mainstream was never the focus, but to continue in hardware, you'd have to gain some traction.

As for the OP, I had read somewhere before that the contract for the rights was ending, and there have been some rumors regarding whether they'd try hardware again themselves or find a new partner, but that might be a pipe dream. I think the brand has been too tarnished in the eyes of mainstream consumers to really have a chance. They're doing well on the software side of things, enterprise, security and their infotainment systems for cars and that might be where they stay.

They still have a loyal following in terms of keyboard enthusiasts, and some that love the software. I'd technically be in that camp too but having been through two Privs and almost considering a Key2, the specs and price were just not enough to keep me in the physical keyboard game. Maybe they find a good partner, or blow some specs out of the water to clash with the regular manufacturers, but I sadly think it's over. Hope I'm wrong.

[williamcll]

Maybe turn it into TCL enterprise phones? 

[atxcyclist]

10 hours ago, TempestCatto said:

I just bought a used BlackBerry Bold 9900 because ATT is going to shut down their 3g network next year, forcing me off of my Pantech P5000. I dont want a smartphone and the simplicity of these phones plays to my seemingly unique taste. Hopefully BB gets picked up by someone else, though I have my doubts. 

I had forgotten that I have an original Pantech Link sitting in a box, that was actually a pretty decent little phone. I bought a used iPhone 3GS afterward and haven't really looked back, but the Pantech was thin and the standby battery life was great. Also, at a time where built-in phone memory came at a premium, being able to put a 32gb microSD card in was nice.

[suicidalfranco]

sad, really wanted to see a successor to the passport

[Devin92]

9 hours ago, huilun02 said:

I kinda disagree.

I do agree on the security on OS level. I was actually typing google service instead of android at first.

If I am using google maps with my gmail account logged in, do you think my where about that is collected by google can be blocked by the OS? Is it possible? Same goes for youtube.

[Commodus]

21 minutes ago, Devin92 said:

I do agree on the security on OS level. I was actually typing google service instead of android at first.

If I am using google maps with my gmail account logged in, do you think my where about that is collected by google can be blocked by the OS? Is it possible? Same goes for youtube.

That's an odd turn of logic to ask if it can block things you've explicitly consented to doing.  "If I use Google apps I can clearly avoid using a sign-in I can clearly avoid, it sends my data to Google!  Outrageous!"

[dizmo]

Not too surprising, they didn't really push the brand too hard. When you don't keep pumping out new devices, you're going to lose traction pretty quickly.

I was actually waiting to see what they did with the Key3, but it looks like that will never be a reality.

 

This isn't the end to Blackberry. They've been around a long time, and will continue to be. Blackberry Mobile died years ago, and is simply a name at this point.

One that doesn't hold much value.

 

On 2/3/2020 at 12:12 PM, TempestCatto said:

I just bought a used BlackBerry Bold 9900 because ATT is going to shut down their 3g network next year, forcing me off of my Pantech P5000. I dont want a smartphone and the simplicity of these phones plays to my seemingly unique taste. Hopefully BB gets picked up by someone else, though I have my doubts. 

They're made by another company in Asia iirc.

On 2/3/2020 at 12:14 PM, Tristerin said:

I just got some of these given to me by work.  I have my kids using them as Cameras lol.  If you are in the states I can mail you one.  (I know its a Bold just not sure the series can check when I get home)

If you're comparing a Bold to a 2012 phone, it's no wonder you think the Android is better; it's several years newer

[Tristerin]

11 minutes ago, dizmo said:

 

If you're comparing a Bold to a 2012 phone, it's no wonder you think the Android is better; it's several years newer

Not my android - my daily driver is a LG Optimus VM670 (April 2011).  Check that bad boy out.  Same battery, same everything from original.  I pay $24.99 flat rate a month and have (was the lifetime contract avail at the time, which is tied to this model phone so should it go bad I can replace it on Ebay for like $12 shipped lol) 300 minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited 3g.  Yes the porn is fuzzy but the cost savings is amazing!  I had to buy the phone outright at the time to get the deal etc.

 

Virgin Mobile JUST sold to Cricket or some such so lets see how they handle my lifetime contract lol.

 

EDIT - the Bolds I have are August 2011 release

[iglance tech]

I didn't even knew anyone still make Blackberry phones