BlackBerry phones are all but dead again

Alex Choros - Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor

Last updated 05 February 2020

BlackBerry smartphones are as good as dead again, with current manufacturer TCL announcing it no longer has the rights to design, build, or sell any new BlackBerry devices. In addition, TCL will stop selling its current BlackBerry devices from August 31 this year.

TCL acquired the rights to make BlackBerry devices at the end of 2016, shortly after BlackBerry bowed out of the manufacturing game itself. TCL launched three BlackBerry phones in Australia: the KEYone, KEY2, and the KEY2 LE. All three had a classic BlackBerry design with a physical keyboard, paired with a modified take on Android.

If you already own one of the aforementioned BlackBerry devices, TCL will provide support and warranty services until August 31, 2022, or for as long as required by local laws.

TCL had near-global rights for BlackBerry phones, but it wasn't the sole licensee of the brand. BB Merah Putih launched a single BlackBerry phone in Indonesia in 2017, and Optiemus Infracom made devices for India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Nepal.

At present it's unclear as to whether BlackBerry is looking for another manufacturing partner, will start manufacturing phones itself again, or if the brand is set to disappear entirely.

While TCL will no longer be building phones under the BlackBerry name, the manufacturer has recently taken to slapping its own names on its handsets. The first of these was the TCL Plex, which will be followed up by a wider range of phones - including a budget 5G smartphone - in the coming months. TCL also manufactures Alcatel and Palm branded devices.

Alex Choros

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Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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