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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