BlackBerry steps away from hardware

“Last week we announced some strategic developments for our Mobility Solutions business. BlackBerry is no longer just about the smartphone, but the smart in the phone. That means that we will be focused on developing and licensing our secure device software and the BlackBerry brand. We will discontinue handset hardware development and fully leverage third parties to develop hardware and distribute and support the BlackBerry handset brand,” Chen writes in the blog post. He explains that via this strategy, there will continue to be BlackBerry-branded devices in the market. “Licensing the BlackBerry device software experience allows us to leverage our core strengths to provide secure, connected, and inherently mobile solutions,” the post continues. While he company will no longer focus on internal device hardware development, the company will still seek to expand the mobility choices available to its customers by bringing BlackBerry security and productivity software to a wider audience across multiple platforms and devices, Chen explains. In short, BlackBerry will change its approach to the mobile device supply chain, with associated market expansion for its software offerings. The company’s enterprise software will be unaffected choice to discontinue the hardware development.