BlackBerry is discontinuing the BlackBerry Classic for good
The company announced today it will stop manufacturing its BB 10 smartphone, in favour of upcoming Android devices.
BlackBerry has announced has announced it will stop manufacturing its BlackBerry Classic smartphone. BB 10The news comes close on the heels of news that the former mobile giant is building three new Android smartphones, to follow up on its first in the series, the BlackBerry Priv. The Canadian company has said it will continue to support its products running the BlackBerry 10 OS, with a version 10.3.3 update scheduled for next month, but the Classic is being rotated out of production queues.The move is a clear indicator of BlackBerry’s waning sales figures over the past few years, as well as the company’s apparent focus shift from hardware to enterprise-centric services.Launched in 2014, the BlackBerry Classic sported the trademark QWERTY keyboard, as well as a touch screen. Chief operating officer and general manager for devices, Ralph Pini, said in a blog post today that the Classic has “long surpassed the average lifespan for a smartphone.”“Sometimes it can be very tough to let go. For BlackBerry, and more importantly for our customers, the hardest part in letting go is accepting that change makes way for new and better experiences,” he added.