In the mid and late 2000s, BlackBerry and Nokia were at their peak in the mobile phone industry. Even when the Apple iPhone made its debut in 2007, many felt the latter won't even a small dent in the two giants. Well, fast forward to 2022, the once-unimaginable scenario has happened. Nokia, who lost major ground with Microsoft's Windows Phones is now betting on Google Android to make a comeback and on the other hand, BlackBerry after several failed attempts is all set to become history.
BlackBerry has announced that all its devices with legacy BlackBerry 7.1 OS (& older versions), BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 (and earlier versions,) will no longer get any more updates and services from January 4.
This means, from this week onwards, several features including carrier or Wi-Fi connections, including for data, phone calls, SMS, and 9-1-1 emergency services on all BlackBerry devices around the world will not work reliably anymore.
Also, popular applications such as BlackBerry Link, BlackBerry Desktop Manager, and BlackBerry Blend will also have limited functionality.
With this announcement, BlackBerry's executive chairman and CEO John Chen's 2016 plan of turning the company from hardware to software-only service entity comes into effect.
Going forward, BlackBerry will offer security software and solutions to business enterprises and government agencies.
Is this end of BlackBerry phones?
Probably not! This is not the first time BlackBerry has announced the suspension of services and hardware. After failing to rejuvenate the brand's fortune with its own resources, it made multiple attempts of revival with TCL and in 2020 with OnwardMobility.
As of now, OnwardMobility currently owns BlackBerry brand license and has not made any new announcement as yet. The US-based start-up had announced a partnership FIH Mobile Limited, a subsidiary of Foxconn, to produce a new line of BlackBerry phones.
In 2020, it had actually revealed plans to bring a 5G BlackBerry phone series in 2021 but it failed to keep up the promise.
We just have to wait and see if Onward Mobility has any surprises in store for BlackBerry fanboys.
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