UPDATE: BlackBerry has responded to reports on support for BlackBerry 10 and you can read the update by clicking here.
BlackBerry is a well-known tech company. This Canada-based firm has been around for quite some time now, and their BlackBerry handsets have been quite popular back in the day. Things change, and considering BlackBerry did not adapt in time, their handsets got kind of obsolete and people basically stopped buying them. Their BB10 update came way too late, along with the new devices, and BlackBerry has been having financial problems as a result of all this.
That being said, the company has introduced their BlackBerry Priv Android-powered smartphone last year, and judging by the initial sales number, people are still very well aware of who BlackBerry is. Priv’s sales haven’t been bad at all, and the company has confirmed that they plan to release at least two additional Android-powered smartphones this year. What about BB10? Well, BlackBerry’s CEO has said last month that the 10.3 update is coming this year, but according to the Senior Director of Asia Pacific product management at BlackBerry, BB OS’ future doesn’t really look all that bright. Mr. Damian Tay basically said that BlackBerry ‘may have only Android as a platform (in the future)’. Here’s what Mr. Tay had to say: “The Priv device is essentially our transition to Android ecosystem. As we secure Android, over a period of time, we would not have two platforms, and may have only Android as a platform [for smartphones]. But for now, we have BB10 and Android platforms for our smartphones…The future is really Android. We went for Android essentially for its app ecosystem. In addition, all the enterprise solutions that we have been doing have been cross-platform for a long time now. So it’s a natural progression towards Android”.
Now, as you can see, the BB OS might cease to exist in the future. More or less everyone expected this considering it doesn’t really make sense to push forward two smartphone platforms, but now one of BlackBerry’s execs actually went ahead and said it. This is not an official confirmation though, just an assumption, but from a more than a reliable source. It remains to be seen what devices will BlackBerry announce this year, but new Android-powered phones are surely on the way, it will be interesting to see what will BlackBerry offer in the end.