Smartphones carrying the BlackBerry brand may hit the market again soon. The Canadian company, which used to be a dominant player in the smartphone business until it gave up to Apple and Samsung, said the Chinese firm TCL will create and sell new BlackBerry phones all over the world.
BlackBerry has stopped making smartphones and transitioned into a software company. Based on the two companies' deal, TCL will manufacture and market new BlackBerry smartphones while BlackBerry will provide it with security software and service suite, Reuters reports. BlackBerry will also continue to offer customer service and apps.
In September BlackBerry announced that it will outsource the development of its smartphones, and a month later released the DTEK60, which TCL made. Reuters says the new BlackBerry-TCL deal gives TCL the license to sell BlackBerry phones anywhere in the world except in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
BlackBerry's latest move is a symbolic step for the company after years of trying but failing to resurrect its once profitable smartphone business, Engadget reports. Although a full return to the smartphone market is unlikely anytime soon, BlackBerry's deal with TCL will keep its brand in the public eye and possibly boost its software business.
TCL is a Chinese electronics corporation that creates phones with the Alcatel brand, and is currently the fourth largest smartphone maker in North America. TechCrunch notes that the BlackBerry brand's return to the smartphone market through a third party like TCL has similarities with Nokia's plans.
Like BlackBerry, Nokia was a major player in the smartphone market until it bowed out of the game. It struck an agreement with the Finnish company HMD Global to manufacture and sell smartphones bearing the Nokia brand.
Nokia's new smartphones will debut at the Mobile World Congress in Spain this February. There are no precise details yet about the new BlackBerry phones, but more information is expected in the coming months.
