BlackBerry is still getting the hang of Android, as it is yet to rollout a major update for its first smartphone powered by Google"s OS. However, that hasn"t stopped the company"s CEO from revealing that there are two more mid-range devices in the pipeline this year.
Speaking to The National on his visit to Abu Dhabi, BlackBerry CEO, John Chen said that the company"s decision to launch a high-end phone as its first one running on Android wasn"t a wise one as people found it too expensive. According to a recent report, the Canadian smartphone maker gave the Priv a permanent price cut in the UK and the US to boost sales, which have so far reached 600,000 units since launch.
Chen further revealed that many enterprise customers who provided feedback, said that they were interested in purchasing the device but were put off by the $700 price tag. A $400 price is what these customers were said to be looking for. To address this, the company will be launching two mid-range devices - one with a physical keyboard and the other with just a touchscreen. We have known about this plan for quite some time and one of the devices has already leaked, but this time the actual reason behind the decision has been revealed.
Ever since joining BlackBerry, John Chen has been making drastic changes in the company"s plans and has since focused on its key strength, that is the enterprise market. In his interview, he also revealed that the company might withdraw from the handset business if it cannot make money for the company in the near future. Chen has also reaffirmed that there will not be any new BlackBerry OS devices coming out from the company, though existing users will get security updates for their smartphones.
It will be interesting to see what the BlackBerry"s next batch of smartphones can do for it, but we will have to wait, as there are no launch dates given out yet.
Source: The National via Android Authority