BlackBerry, the smartphone brand once synonymous with corporate success and government-level security, is set to make a comeback thanks to security startup OnwardMobility and FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of Chinese device manufacturing giant Foxconn.
A new BlackBerry Android phone, with 5G connectivity, will be launched by OnwardMobility in the first half of next year, the company said in a media release on Wednesday.
This isn't the first time BlackBerry has licensed its iconic dotted logo to another smartphone maker.
After parent company Research in Motion discontinued the BlackBerry line in 2016, TCL, a Chinese manufacturer, picked up the licence and started making BlackBerry phones in 2017.
That agreement runs out at the end of August. TCL says it has decided to let go of the BlackBerry brand beyond that point, following the moderate success of TCL-branded smartphones earlier this year.
Avid fans of BlackBerry can still pick up TCL’s BlackBerry Key2 until August 31. TCL claims buyers will get support for at least another two years for the phone.
Specializing in secure communications, BlackBerry was one of the most prominent smartphone vendors in the world. BlackBerry was well known for the physical keyboards on most of its devices.
The organization lost its dominant position in the smartphone market owing to the success of iOS and Android platforms.
