It’s no secret that BlackBerry has struggled to remain popular since the dawn of the iPhone age, and now it seems another nail is to be firmly hammered into the firm’s coffin.
At least, the hardware division’s coffin. According to a Canadian investment website, belonging to the Motley Fool, the company could close its hardware division on September 28.
The report notes that the division itself makes up more than 65% of BlackBerry’s research and development expenses but the company’s smartphones make up less than 1% of the global market.
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Which obviously has investors worried about the money-losing division, prompting BlackBerry CEO John Chen to previously state he would make a decision on the future of the Hardware section in September.
And it seems the firm has begun a large sale on its own site, set to end on September 27, one day before the company’s second-quarter earnings release.
All of which suggest the final decision could be announced on September 28, possibly marking the demise of BlackBerry’s hardware department.
The recently released BlackBerry Priv includes a slide-out version of the keyboard, but the phone failed to revive the company’s financial standing.
And despite releasing the BlackBerry DTEK50 last month, it seems things aren’t looking any better for the struggling smartphone maker.
Of course, the demise of the hardware division, if it goes ahead, wouldn’t mean the end of BlackBerry. The company would be free to focus on software in the future, but until an official announcement comes, we’re unsure just what the plan will be.
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Let us know what you think of the BlackBerry saga in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.