Blackberry Archives - Argyll Free Press

BlackBerry to No Longer Manufacture its Classic Smartphone Model

July 6, 2016 By Nancy Young Leave a Comment

On Tuesday, BlackBerry announced that it would no longer produce the ‘Classic’ model as it would focus more on the BlackBerry 10 line and Android devices.

The announcement was made in a blog post by the company’s chief operating officer Ralph Pini who admitted that in some cases it is very hard to let go. Pini added that both the company and customers will find it hard to let go the old model but “change makes way for new and better experiences.”

The Canadian smartphone maker rolled out the Classic model in 2014 as an attempt to win over plastic keyboard aficionados and smartphone users that are not on good terms with touchscreens.

Pini didn’t say whether BlackBerry OS would be discontinued but other models featuring the system were still displayed on the company’s website as of Tuesday. Pini added that some customers may still stick to the Classic shape of the smartphone despite the phone maker’s decisions.

Pini advised fans to look for the smartphone on their carriers’ sites. He also said that the company still had some on sale on its own website.

The Classic model is powered by BlackBerry 10 operating system, which was supposed to be another asset designed to lure more customers in. Recently, however, the company said that it would focus more on Android-powered devices.

The company wouldn’t unveil whether BlackBerry Classic was a hit as it is in its policy not to disclose sales figures. Yet, it is now known that the company is hemorrhaging money and struggling to cut costs.

In June, the phone maker announced a $670 million loss for the last quarter, which is thrice the amount of loss a quarter prior. Analysts believe that the plunge may be due to the wading popularity of the company’s phone business.

Moreover, the sales of its Priv phones were not as high as expected, and analysts don’t predict the situation to improve as the phones become internationally available. BlackBerry has tried to revive sales with price cuts and rabid advertising on Verizon’s network.

Despite all efforts, hardware sales plunged in this fiscal year and revenue dropped $38 million from $269 million during the same period last year. Investors had expected more than $470 million revenues, and were quite disappointed with the $424 million BlackBerry managed to pull off.
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Is BlackBerry’s Future Bleak and Hardwareless?

March 31, 2016 By Karen Jackson Leave a Comment

BlackBerry is a Canadian telecommunication and wireless equipment company known to having gone on an unstoppable downwards spiral on the mobile phone market when smartphones began gaining popularity. Once a leader of mobile phone technology thanks to its practical QWERTY keyboards and texting-friendly build is now facing a perilous road as the solution to come up to the surface for a breather is far from appearing on the horizon.

These days, BlackBerry owns as little as 1% of the smartphone market. Although numerous attempts have been made at reviving its activity in the world of smartphone, through devices such as the BlackBerry Priv that incorporates both the utility of a touchscreen as well as the practical full keyboard native to the company, not much has changed. Last month’s Mobile World Congress has been an opportunity for phone makers to showcase their upcoming additions and products. However, while other companies were presenting what they have in stock for the near future, BlackBerry remained silent.

This comes as a surprise as BlackBerry had been rumored to be working on the next Android-powered handset, dubbed “Vienna,” which promised to appeal to the lower-end market through an affordable solution. However, no news of the mobile phone has been uncovered since January this year, with the last announcement being that the device would launch ‘later in the year,’ as it was stated by BlackBerry CEO, John Chen.

So what is in stock for the once-great company? While we can’t say with certainty that the lack of official announcements suggests that the Vienna project may have already been scrapped, it does mean that the company’s future may be heading in a completely different direction. Various analysts admit that the chances of BlackBerry making an 180-degree return onto the smartphone market with competitors such as Android and Apple on the horizon are close to 0.

However, the same analysts do see a possible return on the floating line of the BlackBerry company if they can let go of their current field of work and redirect their efforts towards enterprise software. If that happens, BlackBerry may no longer exist on the hardware market, but it will exist as a business. According to professional analysis studies, exiting the hardware market would allow BlackBerry to save nearly 30 to 50 percent of its current spending on research and development. With that amount of funding saved, BlackBerry could score a balance of as much as $1.4 billion, roughly 33 percent of that being free flowing funds that could be used for operations.

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Windows Phone and BlackBerry Are Saying Goodbye to WhatsApp

February 29, 2016 By Roxanne Briean 2 Comments

It has been recently announced by the developer that Windows Phone and BlackBerry are saying goodbye to WhatsApp, the popular instant messaging service that has been released nearly 9 years ago. And it’s not even just that as older Android versions such as 2.2 and beyond as well as Nokia S40 and Nokia Symbian S60 operating systems will also be affected by the change.

This was a decision made by the company when they stated that although back when the app first came out, more than 70 percent of the devices that it ran on were either Nokia or BlackBerry, the current state of affairs does not allow the instant messaging application to expand their list of features on said platforms.

Naturally this only means that the support offered for the application will be discontinued starting with the end of the year 2016. The application will still exist on said mobile operating systems, but will not be receiving any new updates any longer. While it’s not unusual for apps to stop development for older platforms, it came as a surprise when BlackBerry OS 10 was part of the latest announcement.

Hardly an old platform, the decision to stop support for WhatsApp on BlackBerry 10 comes as what is probably the most questionable of all. The reason behind it may be unrelated to the instant messaging app, and instead have something to do with the fact that BlackBerry seems to have been putting a focus on Android as an operating system. Chances are that BlackBerry will no longer be using their native operating system in the phones that they make any longer.

This is bound to create some further problems for BlackBerry as a company, as their decline may continue. Seven years ago, BlackBerry phones represented roughly 70% of the market. Once smartphones started taking over the scene, BlackBerry alternatives lost ground to the point at which now it only holds 1% of the market.

The announcement is a little more problematic for areas of the globe where BlackBerry and other older phone models of the likes are the regular and once support ends for them, it will draw a decrease in WhatsApp users upon itself. South Africa is the best example of the situation: in South Africa, there are 4 million BlackBerry users and the instant messaging application has about 10 million users – most of which are using older phones. And considering that WhatsApp is the most popular application of its kind, the repercussions may be notable to say the least.

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BlackBerry Quits Hardware Next Year If It Isn’t Profitable

October 11, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

During Code/Mobile, CEO John Chen says that BlackBerry quits hardware next year if it isn’t profitable enough. He said that the company never says never to shutting down key parts of its business and focusing on something else that makes investors happy. This something else may very well be a shift of focus towards providing top-notch security services to a variety of platforms.

The company’s Enterprise Servers is fully compatible with both iOS and Android, so it wouldn’t be much of a hassle to aim more resources and time towards the mobile medium. However, they are already wetting their toes in mobile waters without displaying significant improvements.

Chen is still trying to reinvigorate the hardware business, and he doesn’t seem to want to let it die, regardless of how much he notes that BlackBerry never says never. During the Code/Mobile event, Chen took to the stage to unveil and showcase BlackBerry’s Priv. The company’s first Android product, and also the first device built by BB that doesn’t use their own OS.

Chen notes that the BB Priv aims at being a super secure smartphone, maintaining the user’s privacy at all costs. Chen says the the Priv addresses the three key factors which can make BlackBerry succeed – and to be frank, if the Priv isn’t a hit, then it might be the last BlackBerry smartphone we will ever see.

The first issue that the company has to fix is the need to do accommodate all ecosystems i.e. iOS, Android and even Windows Mobile. The second key issues is that the company needs to entice developers to build apps that are either BB exclusive or capable of running on a BB device. This shouldn’t be a huge problem now that the Priv is Android-enabled. And lastly, Chen think that BlackBerry needs to take advantage of the humongous strength it has in the security department and pump up their smartphones accordingly.

Chen adds that the Priv will most likely be one of the securest Android smartphones on the market, if not the securest one. He says that the only the Blackphone is equal to the Priv. Also, BB acknowledges how secure and powerful the Samsung Knox is, which Chen notes as one of Priv’s main competitors in the mobile security medium.

Yet, with the recent Stagefright vulnerabilities unveiled, the company doesn’t guarantee ultimate security. But Chen says that the company is resilient than ever, and even if their Priv will feature vulnerabilities, it won’t feature as many as other competitors.

Even though BlackBerry’s hardware part of the business is in turmoil, with removal pounding on its door, Chen is confident that their new project, as in the BB Priv, will succeed. Thus keeping the business department afloat for at least a couple of years.

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BlackBerry Might Launch an Android Device

June 14, 2015 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

According to Reuters, BlackBerry is seriously considering building a smartphone that will use Google’s Android OS.

Their reliable source, who wishes to remain anonymous because he isn’t authorized to discuss anything about the company’s plans, has said that BlackBerry is quite serious about this.

By all means, BlackBerry should equip their smartphones with the Android OS. We don’t want to see a company with such a long history bankrupt themselves because someone’s ego is too big.

BlackBerry knows that their latest product line didn’t appeal to the masses, and the era when they were considered top dogs in the business sector has long set.

BlackBerry, who back in the day dominated the smartphone market now holds about 1 percent of its share.

The BlackBerry 10 Line

In 2010, the company released their BlackBerry 10 line, praising themselves that they will win back their crown. I would feel a little bit embarrassed if I were in their place. The company has massively lost in front of iOS, and Android devices.

In an email reply to Reuters, the company has stated that – ” We don’t comment on rumors and speculation, but we remain committed to the BlackBerry 10 operating system, which provides security and productivity benefits that are unmatched.”

Also, a Google spokesperson has declined to comment on the situation.

Really subtle guys, really subtle.

The biggest issue that the company might tackle is proving to its customers that their new line of devices can provide its device management software across a variety of platforms – subsequently working successfully.

Anonymous sources have reported that BlackBerry is going to release an Android slider device that will incorporate a keyboard and a touchscreen – trying to appease the masses, aren’t we BlackBerry? I would definitely buy a top-of-the-shelf smartphone that wields a physical keyboard. I got really big sausage fingers, and typing away on touch screens is a pain. I know for sure that I’m not the only one in this predicament.

BlackBerry could snag some big market points by providing a device for this particular niche, but only time will tell if they can get passed their ego, and actually try to reinstate themselves as challengers in the Apple, Samsung, and Google dominated industry.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company has made some much needed cuts regarding its personal. Gone is the day that BlackBerry had 17.500 employees. In February of 2015 the company had about 6.200 people employed, and in May a spokesman for BlackBerry announced that they will be making further cuts in their device sector.

Tough times require tough decisions.

Are you going to buy a BlackBerry device if they launch it featuring Android OS, and sporting a physical keyboard and a touch screen?

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