BlackBerry now wants to make affordable Android phones, but will anyone care?
by ABHIMANYU GHOSHAL — 4 days ago in MOBILE
BlackBerry now wants to make affordable Android phones, but will anyone care?

In an effort to avoid becoming irrelevant in the ever-growing smartphone business, BlackBerry is turning to Android for its next device launches this year.

CEO John Chen told Abu Dhabi-based The National in an interview the company is working on two mid-range Android handsets, one with a full touchscreen and another with a physical keyboard.

So. Much. Tech.

But will anyone even want a BlackBerry later in 2016? The company’s latest device – the Android-based Priv which launched late last year – only sold about 600,000 devices last quarter. For comparison, Samsung’s Galaxy S7 is estimated to have shipped about 10 million devices since it was unveiled in February.

Chen is aware that the Priv is expensive. It cost $700 at launch and recently dropped to $649; the CEO said he’d heard from numerous customers that they wanted something for about $400.

Over the past year, it’s become increasingly clear that BlackBerry’s OS has fallen to the wayside. It currently accounts for only about 0.1 percent of the US smartphone market, and Facebook and WhatsApp announced that their apps would soon stop supporting the platform.

So, switching to Android and aiming for the mid-range segment seems like a good plan on paper. But BlackBerry will have to knock customers’ socks off with its next devices if it wants to stick around in the phone business.

Android handsets have got much better over the past year. It’s not uncommon to find a very capable 4G device with all-metal construction, a long-lasting battery and a decent camera for $150. BlackBerry will need to do a lot of homework to figure out how to win customers back.

The company is known for securing its devices better than most other brands and could gain an edge over the competition that way, but people may just not care enough to buy into it. According to a recent Reuters poll, only one in 10 Americans considered security to be the most important feature when buying a phone.

BlackBerry has its work cut out for it at this point, and 2016 will likely be the year in which it decides whether it can continue to build phones or ditch the hardware business entirely.

Source: http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2016/04/11/blackberry-now-wants-make-affordable-android-phones-will-anyone-care/#gref

What does "ish" mean?

dasphinx1:
What does "ish" mean?

It mean "stuff"

JanethEze:


It mean "stuff"

I know what it means, i was just wondering why you did not make use of a comprehensive word like the "stuff" you just used. Anyways, back to the topic....

Blackberry had it coming. John Chen even tried in bringing back the company from near oblivion. He had no choice than to make the hard call. Going Android was inevitable for the Canadian Company.

dasphinx1:


I know what it means, i was just wondering why you did not make use of a comprehensive word like the "stuff" you just used. Anyways, back to the topic....

Blackberry had it coming. John Chen even tried in bringing back the company from near oblivion. He had no choice than to make the hard call. Going Android was inevitable for the Canadian Company.

It's about time. Android is basically taking over.

if thats the case, make in sell my z30 be dat. it was so annoying when facebook stopped working on bb10.. whatsapp is gonna be worse..

sorextee:
if thats the case, make in sell my z30 be dat. it was so annoying when facebook stopped working on bb10.. whatsapp is gonna be worse..

Eyah. So sorry. I sympathetize with you

The main problem with BlackBerry phones for me is their durability and their repair issues...I bought a z30 back then almost 70k,mistakenly dropped it in the toilet and BAM!!...the phones logic board is dead,till date there's no where I can get it to buy,i eventually had to dismantle the phone and statch it somewhere...bb phones are good until they start developing issues

What happened to Nokia finally adopting the Andriod platform is likely going to happen to Blackberry. Tech business is about innovation and BB is

slow about it.

if they really want to do it and not affordable in the sense that they'll produce devices with 1G or less RAM and call it affordable people would care,

personally I would care cos I fancy BlackBerry devices but not their OSes

BlackBerry be like tecno

henryobinna:
if they really want to do it and not affordable in the sense that they'll produce devices with 1G or less RAM and call it affordable people would care,

personally I would care cos I fancy BlackBerry devices but not their OSes

Not a fan of their OS either

fulfillbill:
What happened to Nokia finally adopting the Andriod platform is likely going to happen to Blackberry. Tech business is about innovation and BB is

slow about it.

You are right. Innovation is important to any business.