Discontinuation of BlackBerry Classic means the end of an era

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The announcement earlier today that BlackBerry would discontinue the BlackBerry Classic in favour of Android powered devices marks an end of an era in the smartphone market. Much considered a throwback to iconic BlackBerry devices, the BlackBerry Classic was launched in 2014 as a device for Blackberry loyalists, businessmen and government users and brought back the iconic QWERTY keyboard.

The BlackBerry Classic showcased the best of what BlackBerry devices had to offer. High-end and innovative hardware with a rock solid QWERTY keyboard typing experience as well as security and no nonsene encryption in heaps and bounds.

Our review of the device determined that, "The BlackBerry Classic is a messaging wonder, a smartphone that straddles the line between the past and the present and it offers loyalist and Bold users a great platform to finally graduate to." Sadly, after today, that platform is gone.

"As part of this, and after many successful years in the market, we will no longer manufacture BlackBerry Classic. For many years, Classic (and its BBOS predecessors) has been in our portfolio. It has been an incredible workhorse device for customers, exceeding all expectations. But, the Classic has long surpassed the average lifespan for a smartphone in today’s market. We are ready for this change so we can give our customers something better," said Ralph Pini, BlackBerry's COO for devices, in a blog post.

BlackBerry has faced massive loss of market share these past few years and even with the ability to sideload Android applications (an imperfect science, to say the least), has been unable to get developer or app interest going gor BB10. The launch of the BlackBerry PRIV last year generated some excitement, but the PRIV runs on Android with a secure BlackBerry safety net.

While BlackBerry promises to support existing BB10 devices, it is clear that the company is slowly transitioning to a future without BlackBerry 10 OS. Whether BlackBerry can remain in the smartphone business as another OEM for Android in an already challenging and crowded market remains to be seen but BlackBerry does have a reputation for security and encryption which might help set it apart from the rest. The BlackBerry Classic will continue to be sold until supplies dry up.

Source: BlackBerry Blog