BlackBerry Unveils Last Phone in Pipeline
October 25 2016 - 8:50AM
Dow Jones News
BlackBerry Ltd. unveiled a new Android-powered phone on Tuesday,
marking the end of an era for the once-dominant smartphone maker as
it cedes handset development to third-party manufacturers to focus
on software.
BlackBerry said its new phone, called the DTEK60, offers a
5.5-inch screen and all-touch keyboard, and will retail for $499.
Much like its successor, the DTEK50, the new device is loaded with
proprietary encryption technology that protects against
cyberattacks and privacy violations.
The new phone stands up to the hardware packed into Apple Inc.'s
iPhone 7 Plus phone and the newly launched Google Pixel XL with
additional security features, said BlackBerry Chief Operating
Officer Marty Beard in an interview.
"We have a very strong entrant," said Mr. Beard. "We market [the
DTEK series] as the world's most secure phones."
The new device uses a unique feature called "hardware root of
trust" to add security keys that prevent it from being
counterfeited, the company said. It also offers a fingerprint
sensor on the back.
BlackBerry said at the end of last month, in conjunction with
second-quarter results, that it would stop making devices to focus
on software.
While the company will no longer control end-to-end development,
BlackBerry-branded devices will continue to be released by
third-party developers, Mr. Beard said. The company already
announced a joint venture with an affiliate of PT Telekomunikasi
Indonesia Tbk, the country's largest wireless carrier, to produce,
promote and distribute all Blackberry-brand devices in
Indonesia.
Analysts had been expecting BlackBerry to give up on its
hardware business for some time as device sales weighed on the
company's bottom line. The company sold 400,000 devices in its
fiscal second quarter, down from 500,000 in its first quarter and
600,000 the quarter before that.
BlackBerry had fiscal second-quarter revenue of $334 million,
down 32% from a year earlier. Revenue from its mobility solutions
division, which includes device sales, was $105 million, down from
$206 million a year earlier.
"We're still very much in the smartphone business, but we're now
focused on the 'smart' in the phone," Mr. Beard said.
The latest device, the company's third Android-powered phone,
will be available in North America and Europe on Tuesday through
BlackBerry's e-commerce sites. The company is working with a number
of distributors in other countries to make the device available
world-wide, Mr. Beard said.
While the company announced plans in July to stop making its
Classic smartphone, another physical keyboard-equipped device isn't
off the table. Mr. Beard said the company may soon help develop a
keyboard-equipped phone depending on market demand. BlackBerry is
also working on an update to its BB10 operating system and the
company remains committed to its proprietary operating system, Mr.
Beard said.
Write to David George-Cosh at david.george-cosh@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 25, 2016 08:35 ET (12:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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