The BlackBerry remains indestructible. Or at least the brand name. Two companies will relaunch the iconic smartphone as the previous manufacturer’s license expires.
OnwardMobility and FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of the Chinese Foxconn, will release a 5G BlackBerry on Android from the first half of 2021.
There are not yet any details or images about the device itself. The makers do confirm that this device will also get a physical keyboard.
OnwardMobility and FIH Mobile are jointly licensing the BlackBerry brand name. The former is responsible for planning and market development; FIH Mobile is responsible for the design and production of the device.
Before the arrival of the iPhone and Android, BlackBerry was a prominent player in the young, at that time, mainly business, smartphone market. The brand focused on security, business functions (then mostly integration with the corporate email server) and a physical keyboard.
But in the years following the advent of Google and Apple, the brand lost popularity. BlackBerry Limited (formerly Research In Motion or RIM) stopped making phones in 2016.
