BlackBerry today finally confirmed that it's working on a new Android device. Although earlier today BlackBerry confirmed the existence of its Android-based Priv smartphone, the company didn't show us any photos of the handset. As expected (following all the previously leaked images), but BlackBerry does say that it will launch the Priv late in 2015 in major markets.” BlackBerry sure hopes so.
Blackberry Confirms That It's Making a Flagship Android Phone named "Priv”. Blackberry said that this flagship” Priv brings together the best of Blackberry security and productivity with the expansive mobile application ecosystem available on the Android platform. The Priv is slated to launch in late 2015, the BlackBerry Priv has a large display that's curved on the sides, similar to the dual-curve screens of Samsung's Galaxy S6 edge and S6 edge+.
BlackBerry Ltd. is betting its handset business on the smartphone world's bestselling operating system for one simple reason: apps. While it is indeed working on an Android smartphone, BlackBerry says that it's still committed to its own BlackBerry 10 operating system. Rounding out today's announcements are BlackBerry's fiscal Q2 2016 numbers.
Today, BlackBerry is announcing two new additions to its handheld device roadmap. First, the company will launch a flagship slider device, Priv, which will run on the Android operating system, bringing together the best of BlackBerry security and productivity with the expansive mobile application ecosystem available on the Android platform.
It's official: BlackBerry is joining the Android family.
Here's Chen's full statement on the BlackBerry Priv:
For a company that has prided itself on bulletproof security since its inception, the move could be a letdown for some, considering Mr. Chen's pledge that the company would not make an Android device unless it could secure” the platform.
The announcement also marks a further commitment to the handset business, an area analysts and Mr. Chen himself have questioned whether the company should pull out of altogether.
To break even in BlackBerry's handset business, which in the second quarter shipped only 800,000 units, Mr. Chen said he would have to sell five million phones in fiscal year 2016. Mr. Chen's first attempt to fix the app deficit in the company's phones came in 2014 when the large, square-shaped Passport shipped loaded with Amazon's app store (and its 250,000 apps). He confirmed on Friday that strategy relied on the online retailer achieving success with its own Fire Phone.
I'm going to eliminate the apps as an excuse not to buy our phone,” Mr. Chen said.
Revenue dropped 46 per cent to $490-million, well below analyst estimates of $611-million. Shares fell 7.7 per cent on the news. BMO Nesbitt Burns analyst Tim Long lowered his price target on the stock to $7 from $9.
Some analysts have questioned whether the flip to Android means that BB10, the platform BlackBerry launched in 2013 to run on all of its new handsets, is dead. That said, the Priv will have security features no BlackBerry or Android has had before.
The most revealing exchange on the software strategy came toward the end of the morning's analyst call when Mr. Chen was asked why Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) space is not growing faster. In the second quarter Mr. Chen said a lot of software growth came from BlackBerry's EMM platform BES 12, but it hasn't been lighting the world on fire. Mr. Chen's argument is that analysts are counting the wrong numbers.
