It used to be the best smartphone, with its email and other features, giving users the ability to do so many things new to mobile phones. There was the pin and ping feature connected to the Blackberry Messenger – bubbling and buzzing with consumers across its global markets.
About a decade into its short-lived era, BlackBerry was at the center of smartphone sales around the world. But its glorious days were abruptly disrupted, and the Canadian company didn’t see that coming nor was it prepared for it. Apple’s iPhones and Google’s Android usurped Blackberry’s smartphone’s market leadership with such an ‘ease’ buried in enticing new features forming part of emerging smartphones.
In 2016, Blackberry became a once-upon-a-time smartphone company that reigned supreme in the smartphone market but lost its reign to Apple and Google OS. The newcomers are not ready to give up a piece of their dominion and Blackberry’s only choice, which had been narrowed to remaining in the market, began to wane until the company called it quits.
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BlackBerry reached the end of an era today, having pulled the plug on support for its classic smartphones some 22 years after the devices first hit the market.
This means, the smartphone’s support system will no longer function reliably. DailyMail reports on how the decision will affect consumers still using Blackberry.
The move will impact devices running BlackBerry 7.1 and earlier, BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 — although Android-powered models will be unaffected.
Unsupported systems will stop receiving software updates and, as a result, will ‘no longer reliably function’, the firm warned in a statement released last September.
This, the Canadian company added, has the potential to affect core operations like the ability to send and receive calls (including to emergency services) and texts.
Data usage may also be affected, while applications like BlackBerry Link, Desktop Manager, World, Messenger and Blend will have ‘limited functionality’.
BlackBerry first hit the market in 2000 and became a must-have for professionals, as the smartphone allowed users to easily write and send emails.
The smartphones saw a dramatic increase in popularity from 2001 to 2007, as they made their way to new markets across the globe.
However, BlackBerry’s supremacy was topped in 2016, losing the title of top device to that of Apple’s ascendant iPhone.
The last version of the BlackBerry OS the firm released dated back to 2013, so the devices set to lose support are very old, Ars Technica have reported.
‘The termination of these service offerings and infrastructure will also impact functionality for applications,’ BlackBerry said in a statement.
These, they added, will include Enhanced Sim Based Licensing, Identity Based Licensing, BlackBerry-hosted email addresses and the original BlackBerry Protect, which let users locate, lock and wipe BBOS and BlackBerry 10 devices remotely.
‘There is no impact to the new BlackBerry Protect which is an AI-based endpoint security solution,’ the firm said.
In 2020, a Texas firm named OnwardMobility announced that it would be making a 5G Android-powered BlackBerry device with a full QWERTY keyboard to release in 2021 — however, the promised smartphone has yet to actually materialize.
‘Enterprise professionals are eager for secure 5G devices that enable productivity, without sacrificing the user experience,’ OnwardMobility CEO Peter Franklin said.
‘BlackBerry smartphones are known for protecting communications, privacy, and data. This is an incredible opportunity for OnwardMobility to bring next-generation 5G devices to market with the backing of BlackBerry and FIH Mobile.’
The OnwardMobility website still mentions the Android-powered Blackberry, but still only lists it as being at the pre-order stage, with no suggestion as to when it will actually be released.
In the end, it was arguably BlackBerry’s failure to adapt, lack of consumer insight and poor design that led to its demise in 2018 — when the company announced that it would no longer be producing the smartphone.
Blackberry’s premature death presents other companies with a valuable lesson. As you enjoy your reign, pay attention to market changes, anticipate disruptions, prepare to handle them by adapting, and build what it takes to keep your crowd.