By Thomas Gryta
T-Mobile US Inc. and BlackBerry Ltd. are burying the
hatchet.
The two underdogs--a formerly struggling wireless carrier and a
fallen-star smartphone pioneer--went through a very public split
last year. But they have mended ties, and T-Mobile will begin
selling the BlackBerry Classic beginning next week, conveniently
timed with the carrier's new push to capture business
customers.
A T-Mobile spokeswoman said the company listened to customers in
bringing back BlackBerry. The carrier will offer the BlackBerry
Classic starting next week for $440, or about $18 a month over two
years. It has supported the devices on its network, but hasn't sold
them for nearly two years.
The BlackBerry has fallen hard from its peak. The primarily
keyboarded device had 53% of the U.S. smartphone market in the
first quarter of 2009, according to research firm IDC. That market
share is now less than 1%, according to IDC.
But the devices still resonate with some customers. Business
users popularized the devices, and many still mourn the shift to
touchscreen smartphones.
While BlackBerry fell, T-Mobile turned itself around. The
company has added millions of new customers and is now trying to
get a foothold in the business market. In March, it announced a
flat-fee pricing model for enterprise customers that it claims is
less expensive and simpler than the offerings of bigger carriers
like AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.
The split between T-Mobile and BlackBerry started early last
year, when T-Mobile emailed some BlackBerry customers encouraging
them to switch to using Apple Inc.'s iPhone. The marketing produced
an outcry from BlackBerry devotees and Chief Executive John Chen,
who called the move "inappropriate and ill-conceived."
T-Mobile CEO John Legere said BlackBerry users were about 1% of
the carrier's customer base. BlackBerry later severed ties, saying
the two companies' strategies weren't complementary.
Write to Thomas Gryta at thomas.gryta@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for BlackBerry Ltd.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=CA09228F1036
Access Investor Kit for Deutsche Telekom AG
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=DE0005557508
Access Investor Kit for Deutsche Telekom AG
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US2515661054
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires