The iconic BlackBerry smartphone brand, which has been killed off and revived several times over the past decade, is reportedly now set for another comeback. Two years after it seemingly died out following the release of what would have been the last BlackBerry smartphone produced by TCL, the brand's logo is now set to appear on yet another new model.
The brand's return comes after a licensing deal was struck with Austin, Texas-based firm OnwardMobility. The company announced on Friday that it had reached an agreement with both BlackBerry and Foxconn subsidiary FIH Mobile Limited to produce BlackBerry-branded 5G smartphones.
Not much detail was revealed about the company's planned smartphones but they did confirm that the units would be running an Android operating system and that they will sport the brand's iconic physical QWERTY keyboard.
OnwardMobility claimed that its new 5G BlackBerry Android smartphone should hit markets sometime in the first half of 2021 in markets such as North America and Europe. Under the deal, BlackBerry granted OnwardMobility rights to develop and sell BlackBerry-branded smartphones.
Apart from sporting its iconic physical keyboard, OnwardMobility will be working closely with both BlackBerry and FIH Mobile to ensure that their new products will have class-leading security features; an attribute that the brand was well-known to have back when was first released. FIH Mobile will primarily be in charge of designing and manufacturing the new models, following strict guidelines set by the two other companies.
OnwardMobility's chief executive officer, Peter Franklin, mentioned in a statement that their new product should fill the need for secure 5G devices, particularly with the increasing number of employees now working remotely. He added that the company's new products will be geared towards enterprise professionals and government workers that don't want to compromise user experience for security. The company is banking on the BlackBerry brand's reputation for providing enterprise-class security.
BlackBerry's chief executive officer, John Chen, said in a separate statement that the company was thrilled to be working with OnwardMobility to revive the brand. He explained that their coming products should provide customers with enterprise- and government-level security and mobile productivity that isn't available with any other smartphone models.
BlackBerry left the smartphone market in late 2016. The company has since been focusing on its enterprise security and automotive software business. The only other company that held a license to the brand was TCL. The four-year brand licensing deal was prematurely ended in February.
