The BlackBerry era appears to have come to an end with its parent company, TCL Communications, announcing that it will stop selling the branded devices on August 31, 2020. The Chinese device manufacturer announced in a statement Monday that it no longer has the license to design and manufacture BlackBerry devices. However, the company plans to provide software support for its already released and distributed handsets through August 31, 2022.
BlackBerry has been under the TCL umbrella since December 2016 when it purchased the rights to design and sell the branded phones in most markets internationally. After releasing slate-style smartphones, including the BlackBerry DTEK50 and the BlackBerry DTEK60, TCL took over the brand’s efforts to create viable devices with the signature QWERTY keyboard design, BBM, and the Android operating system. The BlackBerry KeyOne released in April 2017, followed by the BlackBerry Key 2 in June 2018, and the lower-end BlackBerry Key 2 LE in October 2018. While the handsets gave many old school fans a welcome feeling of nostalgia, the smartphones have not been well-received overall.
TCL may no longer be invested in BlackBerry, but there may still be an opportunity for another company to take over the license and give the legacy brand a shot. Perhaps a new owner won’t step forward until TCL’s contact is complete null in void. Only time will tell.
When TCL Communication announced in December 2016 that we had entered into a brand licensing and technology support agreement with BlackBerry Limited to continue making new, modern BlackBerry smartphones available globally, we were very excited and humbled to take on this challenge. Indeed, our KEY Series smartphones, starting with KEYone, were highly anticipated by the BlackBerry community. What made these devices great wasn’t just the hardware developed and manufactured by TCL Communication, but also the critical security and software features provided by BlackBerry Limited to ensure these were genuine BlackBerry devices. The support of BlackBerry Limited was an essential element to bringing devices like BlackBerry KEYOne, Motion, KEY2, and KEY2 LE to life, and we’re proud to have partnered with them these past few years on those projects.
We do regret to share however that as of August 31, 2020, TCL Communication will no longer be selling BlackBerry-branded mobile devices. TCL Communication has no further rights to design, manufacture, or sell any new BlackBerry mobile devices, however TCL Communication will continue to provide support for the existing portfolio of mobile devices including customer service and warranty service until August 31, 2022 — or for as long as required by local laws where the mobile device was purchased. Further details can be found at www.blackberrymobile.com or by phoning customer support at the numbers found at blackberrymobile.com/hotline-and-service-center/.
For those of us at TCL Communication who were blessed enough to work on BlackBerry Mobile, we want to thank all our partners, customers, and the BlackBerry fan community for their support over these past few years. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to meet so many fans from all over the world during our world-tour stops. The future is bright for both TCL Communication and BlackBerry Limited, and we hope you’ll continue to support both as we move ahead on our respective paths.
From everyone who worked on the BlackBerry Mobile team at TCL Communication over the years, we want to say “thank you” for allowing us to be part of this journey.
– TCL Communications
